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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/11462-0.txt b/11462-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0c2a6f0 --- /dev/null +++ b/11462-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1581 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11462 *** + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 14, No. 382.] SATURDAY, JULY 25, 1829. [PRICE 2d. + + + + +POPE'S TEMPLE, AT HAGLEY + + +[Illustration: Pope's Temple, at Hagley] + +Reader! are you going out of town "_in search of the picturesque_"--if +so, bend your course to the classic, the consecrated ground of HAGLEY! +think of LYTTLETON, POPE, SHENSTONE, and THOMSON, or refresh your memory +from the "_Spring_" of the latter, as-- + + Courting the muse, thro' _Hagley_ Park thou strayst. + Thy _British Tempe_! There along the dale, + With woods o'erhung, and shagg'd with mossy rocks, + Whence on each hand the gushing waters play, + And down the rough cascade white dashing fall, + Or gleam in lengthen'd vista through the trees, + You silent steal; or sit beneath the shade + Of solemn oaks, that tuft the swelling mounts + Thrown graceful round by Nature's careless hand, + And pensive listen to the various voice + Of rural peace; the herds, the flocks, the birds, + The hollow-whispering breeze, the 'plaint of rills, + That, purling down amid the twisted roots + Which creep around their dewy murmurs shake + On the sooth'd ear. + +Such is the fervid language in which the Poet of the year invoked + + "LYTTLETON, the friend!" + +Yet these lines will kindle the delight and reverence of every lover of +Nature, in common with the effect of the _Seasons_ on the reader, who +"wonders that he never saw before what Thomson shows him, and that he +never yet has felt what Thomson impresses."[1] + + [1] Johnson's Life of Thomson. + +But we quit these nether flights of song to describe the locality of +Hagley Park, of whose beauties our Engraving is but a mere vignette, and +in comparison like holding a candle to the sun. The village of Hagley is +a short distance from Bromsgrove, in Worcestershire, whence the +pleasantest route to the park is to turn to the right on the Birmingham +road, which cuts the grounds into two unequal parts. The house is a +plain and even simple, yet classical edifice. Whately, in his work on +Gardening, describes it as surrounded by a lawn, of fine uneven ground, +and diversified with large clumps, little groups, and single trees; it +is open in front, but covered on one side by the Witchbury hills; on the +other side, and behind by the eminences in the park, which are high and +steep, and all overspread with a lofty hanging wood. The lawn pressing +to the front, or creeping up the slopes of three hills, and sometimes +winding along glades into the depth of the wood, traces a beautiful +outline to a sylvan scene, already rich to luxuriance in massive +foliage, and stately growth. The present house was built by the first +Lord Lyttleton, not on, but near to, the site of the ancient family +mansion, a structure of the sixteenth century. Admission may be obtained +on application to the housekeeper; and for paintings, carving, and +gilding, Hagley is one of the richest show-houses in the kingdom.[2] + + [2] _Show-houses_ is a very appropriate term for such of the + mansions of our nobility and gentry as are open to public + inspection. Hagley is extremely rich in treasures of art. A mere + catalogue of them would occupy the whole of our sheet; but we + must notice two curiously carved mahogany tables, which cost + £200.; four exquisitely carved busts of Shakspeare, Milton, + Spenser, and Dryden, by Scheimaker, and bequeathed to George, + Lord Lyttleton, by Pope; the portrait of Pope and his dog, + Bounce; a fine Madonna, by Rubens; several pictures by Vandyke, + Sir Peter Lely, Le Brun, &c. &c. the Gobelin tapestry of the + drawing room; the ceiling painted by Cipriani; and the family + pictures, among which is Judge Lyttleton, copied from the + painted glass in the Middle Temple Hall. + +Much as the visiter will admire the refined taste displayed within the +mansion, his admiration will be heightened by the classic taste in which +the grounds are disposed. A short distance from the house, embosomed in +trees, stands the church, built in the time of Henry III.; with a +sublime Gothic arch, richly painted windows, and a ceiling fretted with +the heraldic fires of the Lyttleton family, whose tombs are placed on +all sides; among them, the resting-place of the gay poet is +distinguished by the following plain inscription:-- + + This unadorned stone was placed here + By the particular desire and express + Directions of the Right Honourable + GEORGE, LORD LYTTLETON, + Who died August 22, 1773, aged 64. + +Leaving the church we ascend to the crest of a hill, on which stands the +Prince of Wales's Pillar. From this point, the view is inexpressibly +beautiful, in which may be seen an octagon seat sacred to the memory of +Thomson, and erected on the brow of a verdant steep, his favourite spot. +In the foreground is a gently winding valley; on the rising hill beyond +is a noble wood, whilst to the right the open country fades in the +distance; on the left the Clent hills appear, and a dusky antique tower +stands just below them at the extremity of the wood; whilst in the midst +of it, we can discern the _Doric temple sacred to Pope_. This exquisite +gem of the picturesque is represented in our Engraving. + +In the adjoining grove of oaks is the antique tower; in a beautiful +amphitheatre of wood, an Ionic rotunda; and in an embowering grove a +Palladian bridge, with a light airy portico. Here on a fine lawn is the +urn inscribed to Pope, mentioned by Shenstone: + + Here Pope! ah, never must that towering mind + To his loved haunts, or dearer friend return; + What art, what friendship! oh! what fame resign'd; + In yonder glade I trace his mournful urn. + +At the end of the valley, in an obscure corner is a hermitage, composed +of roots and moss, whence we look down on a piece of water in the +hollow, thickly shaded with tall trees, (_see the engraving_,) over +which is a fine view of distant landscape. This spot is the extremity of +the park, and the Clent hills rise in all their wild irregularity, +immediately behind it. + +We have not space to describe, or rather to abridge from Whately's +beautiful description, a tithe of the classic embellishments of Hagley. +Shenstone as well as Pope has here his votive urn. Ivied ruin, temple, +grotto, statue, fountain, and bridge; the proud portico and the humble +rustic seat, alternate amidst these ornamental charms, and never were +Nature and art more delightfully blended than in the beauties of Hagley. +Here Pope, Shenstone, and Thomson[3] passed many hours of calm +contemplation and poetic ease, amidst the hospitalities of the noble +owner of Hagley. To think of their kindred spirits haunting its groves, +and their imaginative contrivances of votive temples, urns, and tablets, +and to combine them with these enchanting scenes of Nature, is to +realize all that Poets have sung of Arcadia of old. Happy! happy life +for the man of letters; what a retreat must your bowers have afforded +from the common-place perplexities of every-day life: Alas! the picture +is almost too sunny for sober contemplation. + + [3] Thomson's affectionate letter to his sister, (quoted by + Johnson, who received it from Boswell,) is dated "Hagley, in + Worcestershire, October the 4th, 1747." + + * * * * * + +_In part of the impression of our last Number, we stated the architect +of the front of_ Apsley House, _to be Sir Jeffrey Wyatville, instead of +Mr. Benjamin Wyatt, by whom the design was furnished, and under whose +superintendence this splendid improvement has been executed. Mr. B. +Wyatt is likewise the architect of the superb mansion built for the late +Duke of York._ + + * * * * * + + +INGRATITUDE. + +A DRAMATIC SKETCH. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + + Hence, faithless wretch! thou hast forgot the hand + That sav'd thee from oppression--from the grasp + Of want. I fed you once--then you was poor: + Even as I am now. Yet from the store + Of your abundance, you refuse to grant + The veriest trifle. May the bounty + Of that great God who gave you what you have + Ne'er from you flow. You have forgot me, sir, + But I remember ere I left this land, + By way of traffic for the western world, + I had a favourite, faithful dog, + Who for the kindnesses I pour'd upon him + Would fawn upon me: not in flattery, + But in a sort that spoke his generous nature. + Lasting as memory, + Faster than friendship--deeper than the wave + Is the affection of a mindless brute. + In a few hours (for I can almost see + The cot wherein these travell'd bones were cradled,) + I shall have ended an untoward enterprize, + And if that honest creature I have told you of + Still breathes this vital air, and will not know me, + May hospitality keep closed her gates + Against me, till I find a home within + The grave. CYMBELINE. + + * * * * * + + +M. BOILEAU TO HIS GARDENER. + +IMITATED + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + + Industrious man, thou art a prize to me, + The best of masters--surely born for thee; + Thou keeper art of this my rural seat,[4] + Kept at my charge to keep my garden neat; + To train the woodbine and to crop the yew-- + In th' art of gard'ning equall'd p'rhaps by few. + O! could I cultivate my barren soul, + As thou this garden canst so well control; + Pluck up each brier and thorn, by frequent toil, + And clear the mind as thou canst cleanse the soil[5] + + But now, my faithful servant, Anthony, + Just speak, and tell me what you think of me; + When through the day amidst the gard'ning trade + You bear the wat'ring pot, or wield the spade, + And by your labour cause each part to yield, + And make my garden like a fruitful field; + What say you, when you see me musing there + With looks intent as lost in anxious care, + And sending forth my sentiments in words + That oft intimidate the peaceful birds? + Dost thou not then suppose me void of rest, + Or think some demon agitates my breast? + Yon villagers, you know, are wont to say + Thy master's fam'd for writing many a lay, + 'Mongst other matters too he's known to sing + The glorious acts of our victorious king;[6] + Whose martial fame resounds thro' every town; + Unparallel'd in wisdom and renown. + You know it well--and by this garden wall + P'rhaps Mons and Namur[7] at this instant fall. + What shouldst thou think if haply some should say + This noted chronicler's employ'd to-day + In writing something new--and thus his time + Devotes to thee--to paint his thoughts in rhyme? + My master, thou wouldst say, can ably teach, + And often tells me more than parsons preach; + But still, methinks, if he was forc'd to toil + Like me each day--to cultivate the soil, + To prune the trees, to keep the fences round; + Reduce the rising to the level ground, + Draw water from the fountains near at hand + To cheer and fertilize the thirsty land, + He would not trade in trifles such as these, + And drive the peaceful linnets from the trees. + + Now, Anthony, I plainly see that you + Suppose yourself the busiest of the two; + But ah, methinks you'd tell a diff'rent tale + If two whole days beyond the garden pale + You were to leave the mattock and the spade + And all at once take up the poet's trade: + To give a manuscript a fairer face, + And all the beauty of poetic grace; + Or give the most offensive flower that blows + Carnation's sweets, and colours of the rose; + And change the homely language of the clown + To suit the courtly readers of the town-- + Just such a work, in fact, I mean to say, + As well might please the critics of the day! + + Soon from this work returning tir'd and lean, + More tann'd than though you'd twenty summers seen, + The wonted gard'ning tools again you'd take + Your long-accustom'd shovel and your rake; + And then exclaiming, you would surely say, + 'Twere better far to labour many a day + Than e'er attempt to take such useless flights, + And vainly strive to gain poetic heights, + Impossible to reach--I might as soon + Ascend at once and land upon the moon! + + Come, Anthony, attend: let me explain + (Although an idler) weariness and pain. + Man's ever rack'd and restless, here below, + And at his best estate must labour know. + Then comes fatigue. The Sisters nine may please + And promise poets happiness and ease; + But e'en amidst those trees, that cooling shade, + That calm retreat for them expressly made, + No rest they find--there rich effusions flow + In all the measures bardic numbers know: + Thus on their way in endless toil they move, + And spend their strength in labours that they love. + Beneath the trees the bards the muses haunt, + And with incessant toil are seen to pant; + But still amidst their pains, they pleasure find + An ample entertainment for the mind. + But, after all, 'tis plain enough to me, + A man unstudious, must unhappy be; + Who deems a dull, inactive life the best, + A life of laziness, a life of rest; + A willing slave to sloth--and well I know, + He suffers much who nothing has to do. + His mind beclouded, he obscurely sees, + And free from busy life imagines ease. + All sinful pleasures reign without control, + And passions unsubdued pollute the soul; + He thus indulges in impure desires, + Which long have lurk'd within, like latent fires: + At length they kindle--burst into a flame + On him they sport--sad spectacle of shame. + Remorse ensues--with every fierce disease. + The stone and cruel gout upon him seize; + To quell their rage some fam'd physicians come + Who scarce less cruel, crowd the sick man's room; + On him they operate--these learned folk, + Make him saw rocks, and cleave the solid oak;[8] + And gladly would the man his fate resign + For such an humble, happy state as thine. + Be thankful, Anthony, and think with me, + The poor hardworking man may happier be + If blest with strength, activity, and health, + Than those who roll in luxury and wealth. + + Two truths important, I proceed to tell, + One is a truth, you surely know full well; + That labour is essential here below + To man--a source of weal instead of woe: + The other truth, few words suffice to prove, + No blame attaches to the life I love. + So still attend--but I must say no more, + I plainly see, you wish my sermon o'er; + You gape, you close your eyes, you drop your chin, + Again methinks I'd better not begin. + Besides, these melons seem to wish to know + The reason why they are neglected so; + And ask if yonder village holds its feast + And thou awhile art there detained a guest, + While all the flowery tribes make sad complaint. + For want of water they are grown quite faint. + + _Tipton._ T.S.A. + + [4] Anteuil, near Paris. + + [5] Horace speaks thus to his steward in the country. Epistle + xiv. book 1. + + [6] Lewis XIV. + + [7] See Ode sur la prise de Namur. + + [8] This metaphor has been considered too bold, and perhaps + justly, but _Despreaux_ did not think it so. He observed to _M. + Dagnesseau_ that if this line were not good, he might burn the + whole production. + + * * * * * + + + +THE SELECTOR, AND LITERARY NOTICES OF _NEW WORKS._ + + + * * * * * + + +LIVES OF BRITISH PAINTERS, SCULPTORS, AND ARCHITECTS. + +_By Allan Cunningham._ + + +This volume is the first of a series of Lives of Artists, and the fourth +number of Murray's _Family Library_. The author is a first-rate poet, +but it appears that he undertook this task with some diffidence. We +have, however, few artists of literary attainments, and they are more +profitably employed than in authorship. Little apology was necessary, +for of all literary men, poets are best calculated to write on the Fine +Arts: and the genius of Poetry, Painting, Sculpture, and Music, is often +associated in one mind, in love of the subjects at least, if not in +practice. + +Prefixed to the "Lives," is a delightful chapter on British Art before +the birth of Hogarth, from which we quote the following:-- + +"Poetry, Painting, Sculpture, and Music, are the natural offspring of +the heart of man. They are found among the most barbarous nations; they +flourish among the most civilized; and springing from nature, and not +from necessity or accident, they can never be wholly lost in the most +disastrous changes. In this they differ from mere inventions; and, +compared with mechanical discoveries, are what a living tree is to a log +of wood. It may indeed be said that the tongue of poetry is occasionally +silent, and the hand of painting sometimes stayed; but this seems not to +affect the ever-living principle which I claim as their characteristic. +They are heard and seen again in their season, as the birds and flowers +are at the coming of spring; and assert their title to such immortality +as the things of earth may claim. It is true that the poetry of +barbarous nations is rude, and their attempts at painting uncouth; yet +even in these we may recognise the foreshadowings of future excellence, +and something of the peculiar character which, in happier days, the +genius of the same tribe is to stamp upon worthier productions. The +future Scott, or Lawrence, or Chantrey, may be indicated afar-off in the +barbarous ballads, drawings, or carvings, of an early nation. Coarse +nature and crude simplicity are the commencement, as elevated nature and +elegant simplicity are the consummation of art. + +"When the Spaniards invaded the palaces of Chili and Peru, they found +them filled with works of art. Cook found considerable beauty of drawing +and skill of workmanship in the ornamented weapons and war-canoes of the +islanders of the South Sea; and in the interior recesses of India, +sculptures and paintings, of no common merit, are found in every +village. In like manner, when Caesar landed among the barbarians of +Britain, he found them acquainted with arts and arms; and his savage +successors, the Saxons, added to unextinguishable ferocity a love of +splendour and a rude sense of beauty, still visible in the churches +which they built, and the monuments which they erected to their princes +and leaders. All those works are of that kind called ornamental: the +graces of true art, the truth of action and the dignity of sentiment are +wanting; and they seem to have been produced by a sort of mechanical +process, similar to that which creates figures in arras. Art is, indeed, +of slow and gradual growth; like the oak, it is long of growing to +maturity and strength. Much knowledge of colour, much skill of hand, +much experience in human character, and a deep sense of light and shade, +have to be acquired, to enable the pencil to embody the conceptions of +genius. The artist has to seek for all this in the accumulated mass of +professional knowledge: which time has gathered for his instruction, and +with his best wisdom, and his happiest fortune, he can only add a little +more information to the common stock, for the benefit of his successors. +In no country has Painting risen suddenly into eminence. While Poetry +takes wing at once, free and unincumbered, she is retarded in her ascent +by the very mechanism to which she must at last owe at least half her +glory. In Britain, Painting was centuries in throwing off the fetters of +mere mechanical skill, and in rising into the region of genius. The +original spirit of England had appeared in many a noble poem, while the +two sister arts were still servilely employed in preserving incredible +legends, in taking the likeness of the last saint whom credulity had +added to the calendar, and in confounding the acts of the apostles in +the darkness of allegory." + +Then follows an outline of early Art in England, in the embellishment of +cathedrals, &c.; among which is the following notice of one of the +earliest of our attempts at historical portraiture which can be +authenticated:-- + +"It is a Painting on Wood; the figures are less than life, and represent +Henry the Fifth and his relations. It measures four feet six inches +long, by four feet four inches high, and was in the days of Catholic +power the altarpiece of the church of Shene. An angel stands in the +centre, holding in his hands the expanding coverings of two tents, out +of which the king, with three princes, and the queen, with four +princesses, are proceeding to kneel at two altars, where crosses, and +sceptres, and books are lying. They wear long and flowing robes, with +loose hair, and have crowns on their heads. In the background, St. +George appears in the air, combating with the dragon, while Cleodelinda +kneels in prayer beside a lamb. It is not, indeed, quite certain that +this curious work was made during the reign of Henry the Fifth, but +there can be little doubt of its being painted as early as that of his +son." + +In the next page we have the following character of an English artist of +about the same period:-- + +"He was at once architect, sculptor, carpenter, goldsmith, armourer, +jeweller, saddler, tailor, and painter. There is extant, in Dugdale, a +curious example of the character of the times, and a scale by which we +can measure the public admiration of art. It is a contract between the +Earl of Warwick and John Rag, citizen and tailor, London, in which the +latter undertakes to execute the emblazonry of the earl's pageant in his +situation of ambassador to France. In the tailor's bill, gilded griffins +mingle with Virgin Marys; painted streamers for battle or procession, +with the twelve apostles; and 'one coat for his grace's body, lute with +fine gold,' takes precedence of St. George and the Dragon." + +We wish some of the criticism in this chapter had been milder, and a few +of the invectives not so highly charged; some of them even out-Herod the +fury of an article on Painting, in a recent number of the _Edinburgh +Review_. But we must pass on to pleasanter matters--as the following +poetical paragraphs:-- + +"The art of tapestry as well as the art of illuminating books, aided in +diffusing a love of painting over the island. It was carried to a high +degree of excellence. The earliest account of its appearance in England +is during the reign of Henry the Eighth, but there is no reason to doubt +that it was well known and in general esteem much earlier. The +traditional account, that we were instructed in it by the Saracens, has +probably some foundation. The ladies encouraged this manufacture by +working at it with their own hands; and the rich aided by purchasing it +in vast quantities whenever regular practitioners appeared in the +market. It found its way into church and palace--chamber and hall. It +served at once to cover and adorn cold and comfortless walls. It added +warmth, and, when snow was on the hill and ice in the stream, gave an +air of social snugness which has deserted some of our modern mansions. + +"At first the figures and groups, which rendered this manufacture +popular, were copies of favourite paintings; but, as taste improved and +skill increased, they showed more of originality in their conceptions, +if not more of nature in their forms. They exhibited, in common with all +other works of art, the mixed taste of the times--a grotesque union of +classical and Hebrew history--of martial life and pastoral repose--of +Greek gods and Romish saints. Absurd as such combinations certainly +were, and destitute of those beauties of form and delicate gradations +and harmony of colour which distinguish paintings worthily so +called--still when the hall was lighted up, and living faces thronged +the floor, the silent inhabitants of the walls would seem, in the eyes +of our ancestors, something very splendid. As painting rose in fame, +tapestry sunk in estimation. The introduction of a lighter and less +massive mode of architecture abridged the space for its accommodation, +and by degrees the stiff and fanciful creations of the loom vanished +from our walls. The art is now neglected. I am sorry for this, because I +cannot think meanly of an art which engaged the heads and hands of the +ladies of England, and gave to the tapestried hall of elder days fame +little inferior to what now waits on a gallery of paintings." + +Passing over Holbein, Sir Antonio Moore, Vandyke, Lely, Kneller, and +Thornhill, we come to the lives of Hogarth--Wilson--Reynolds and +Gainsborough--from which we select a few characteristic anecdotes and +sketches. In noticing Hogarth's early life, Mr. Cunningham has thrown +some discredit on a book, which on its publication, made not a little +chat among artists:-- + +"Of those early days I find this brief notice in Smith's Life of +Nollekens the sculptor. 'I have several times heard Mr. Nollekens +observe, that he had frequently seen Hogarth, when a young man, saunter +round Leicester Fields with his master's sickly child hanging its head +over his shoulder.' It is more amusing to read such a book than safe to +quote it. Hogarth had ceased to have a master for seventeen years, was +married to Jane Thornhill, kept his carriage, and was in the full blaze +of his reputation, when Nollekens was born." + +Among Hogarth's early labours are his Illustrations of Hudibras, +published in 1726. These were seventeen plates; and we have lately seen +in the possession of Mr. Britton, the architect, eleven original +paintings illustrative of Butler's witty poem, and attributed to +Hogarth. + +From the notices of Hogarth's portraits we select the following:-- + +"Hogarth's Portrait of Henry Fielding, executed after death from +recollection, is remarkable as being the only likeness extant of the +prince of English novelists. It has various histories. According to +Murphy, Fielding had made many promises to sit to Hogarth, for whose +genius he had a high esteem, but died without fulfilling them; a lady +accidentally cut a profile with her scissars, which recalled Fielding's +face so completely to Hogarth's memory, that he took up the outline, +corrected and finished it and made a capital likeness. The world is +seldom satisfied with a common account of any thing that interests +it--more especially as a marvellous one is easily manufactured. The +following, then, is the second history. Garrick, having dressed himself +in a suit of Fielding's clothes, presented himself unexpectedly before +the artist, mimicking the step, and assuming the look of their deceased +friend. Hogarth was much affected at first, but, on recovering, took his +pencil, and drew the portrait. For those who love a soberer history, the +third edition is ready. Mrs. Hogarth, when questioned concerning it, +said, that she remembered the affair well; her husband began the +picture--and finished it--one evening in his own house, and sitting by +her side. + +"Captain Coram, the projector of the Foundling Hospital, sat for his +portrait to Hogarth, and it is one of the best he ever painted. There is +a natural dignity and great benevolence expressed in a face which, in +the original, was rough and forbidding. This worthy man, having laid out +his fortune and impaired his health in acts of charity and mercy, was +reduced to poverty in his old age. An annuity of a hundred pounds was +privately purchased, and when it was presented to him, he said, 'I did +not waste the wealth which I possessed in self-indulgence or vain +expense, and am not ashamed to own that in my old age I am poor.' + +"The last which I shall notice of this class of productions, is the +portrait of the celebrated demagogue John Wilkes. This singular +performance originated in a quarrel with that witty libertine, and his +associate Churchill the poet: it immediately followed an article, from +the pen of Wilkes, in the North Briton, which insulted Hogarth as a man, +and traduced him as an artist. It is so little of a caricature, that +Wilkes good humouredly observes somewhere in his correspondence, 'I am +growing every day more and more like my portrait by Hogarth.' The +terrible scourge of the satirist fell bitterly upon the personal and +moral deformities of the man. Compared with his chastisement the +hangman's whip is but a proverb, and the pillory a post of honour. He +might hope oblivion from the infamy of both; but from Hogarth there was +no escape. It was little indeed that the artist had to do, to brand and +emblazon him with the vices of his nature--but with how much +discrimination that little is done! He took up the correct portrait, +which Walpole upbraids him with skulking into a court of law to obtain, +and in a few touches the man sank, and the demon of hypocrisy and +sensuality sat in his stead. It is a fiend, and yet it is Wilkes still. +It is said that when he had finished this remarkable portrait, the +former friendship of Wilkes overcame him, and he threw it into the fire, +from which it was saved by the interposition of his wife." + +All the criticisms on Hogarth's _moral_ pictures have an air of +originality and freshness of mind, which is so attractive, as to make us +regret that we have not room for them. In proof of this, only let the +reader turn to Mr. Cunningham's remarks on the Harlot and Rake's +Progress, at pages 98 and 99. His descriptions too of the satirical +pictures are extremely ludicrous, and in effect second only to painting +itself. The following anecdote of the celebrated _March to Finchley_ is +curious, though well known:-- + +"The original painting was, on the publication of the print, disposed of +by a kind of lottery. Seven shillings and sixpence were fixed as the +price of a print; and every purchaser of a print was entitled to a +chance in the lottery for the picture. Eighteen hundred and forty-three +chances were subscribed for; a hundred and sixty-seven tickets, which +remained, were presented to the Foundling Hospital. One of the +Hospital's tickets drew the desired prize; and on the same night Hogarth +delivered the painting to the governors, not a little pleased that it +was to adorn a public place." + +After quoting Walpole's description of Hogarth's _Sigismunda_, in which +he says-- + +"To add to the disgust raised by such vulgar expression, her fingers +were blooded by her lover's heart, that lay before her like that of a +sheep for her dinner;--" + +Mr. C. observes, "this is very severe, very pointed, and very untrue. +The Sigismunda of Hogarth is not tearing off her ornaments, nor are her +fingers bloodied by her lover's heart. It is said that the picture +resembled Mrs. Hogarth, who was a very handsome woman; and to this +circumstance Wilkes maliciously alludes in his unprincipled attack on +her husband. 'If the Sigismunda,' says this polite patriot, 'had a +resemblance of any thing ever seen on earth, or had the least pretence +to either meaning or expression, it was what he had seen, or perhaps +made--in real life--his own wife in an agony of passion; but of what +passion no connoisseur could guess.' That Mrs. Hogarth sat for the +picture of Sigismunda seems to have been known to conscientious John, +and this is supported by that lady's conduct to Walpole. This noble +biographer sent her a copy of his Anecdotes, accompanied by a courtly +and soothing note; but she was so much offended by his description of +the Sigismunda, that she took no notice of his present. The widow of the +artist was poor--and an opinion so ill-natured--so depreciating--and so +untrue, injured the property which she wished to sell: she loved too the +memory of her husband, and resented in the dignity of silence the +malicious and injurious attack. She considered the present as an insult +offered when she had no one to protect her. I love her pride and +reverence her affection." + +Of Hogarth's house at Chiswick, we have the following slight notice:-- + +"The time was now approaching when superstition, and folly, and vice, +were to be relieved from the satiric pencil which had awed them so +long--the health of Hogarth began to decline. He was aware of this, and +purchased a small house at Chiswick, to which he retired during the +summer, amusing himself with making slight sketches and retouching his +plates. This house stood till lately on a very pretty spot; but the +demon of building came into the neighbourhood, choked up the garden, and +destroyed the secluded beauty of Hogarth's cottage. The garden, well +stored with walnut, mulberry, and apple trees, contained a small study, +with a head-stone, placed over a favourite bullfinch, on which the +artist had etched the bird's head and written an epitaph. The cottage +contained many snug rooms, and was but yesterday the residence of a man +of learning and genius, Mr. Cary, the translator of Dante. The change of +scene, the free fresh air, and exercise on horseback, had for awhile a +favourable influence on Hogarth's health; but he complained that he was +no longer able to think with the readiness, and work with the elasticity +of spirit, of his earlier years. The friends of this artist observed, +and lamented, this falling away; his enemies hastened to congratulate +Churchill and Wilkes on the success of their malevolence; and these men +were capable of rejoicing in the belief that the work of nature was +their own." + +We are glad to see Mr. Cunningham throwing light on false conclusions +drawn from the eccentricities of genius, as in this little anecdote:-- + +"With Dr. Hoadley, who corrected the manuscript of the Analysis of +Beauty for the press, Hogarth was on such friendly terms that he was +admitted into one of the private theatrical exhibitions which the doctor +loved, and was appointed to perform along with Garrick and his +entertainer, a parody on that scene in Julius Caesar where the ghost +appears to Brutus. Hogarth personated the spectre, but so +unretentive--(we are told)--was his memory that though the speech +consisted only of two lines he was unable to get them by heart, and his +facetious associates wrote them on an illuminated lantern that he might +read them when he came upon the stage. Such is the way in which +anecdotes are manufactured, and conclusions of absence or imbecility +drawn. The speech of the ghost written on the paper lantern formed part +of the humour of the burlesque. Men, dull in comprehending the +eccentricities of genius, set down what passes their own understanding +to the account of the other's stupidity." + +Here our notice of the Life of Hogarth would end, did we not feel +inclined to venture a word or two respecting the omission of Hogarth's +_Tailpiece_, engraved in Ireland's "Life," and there described as his +last work. With the superstitious tale attached to it almost every one +is familiar; yet some notice ought surely to have been taken of the +story, even had it only been to expose its falsehood and absurdity. + +We find that we have proceeded but half through the volume, so that +Wilson, Reynolds, and Gainsborough must remain for another number. + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY. + + + * * * * * + + +_Microscopic Objects._ + + +The most delicate test objects for microscopes are the lines on the +feathers of butterflies or moths' wings, of which there are many +gradations; some easily demonstrated, and others only to be seen with +the most powerful reflectors, and to the best advantage by the simple +and uncondensed light of the lamp. The hair of a mouse is a very good +test object: it is best seen by daylight; the most difficult parts of +which are longitudinal lines in the transparent part of the hair, which +require high powers. The hair of the bat and seal are also fine tests. +The lines on the scales of the diamond beetle, &c. are excellent opaque +proof objects. The feet of flies are likewise very interesting. + + * * * * * + + +_New Lilac Dyes._ + + +Dr. Macculloch has lately produced two fine lilac dyes from plants of +domestic growth, not hitherto applied to this purpose. One is from the +berry of the Portugal laurel, and the other the black currant. The +simplest process with alum is all that is required for either; and as +far as his trials go, the best tint is produced by the former fruit. + + * * * * * + + +_Dirty Windows._ + + +We have frequently remarked small radiant and arborescent +crystallizations on dirty windows in London, and have found them to +consist of _sulphate of ammonia_. This salt, or at least, sulphite of +ammonia (which becomes sulphate by exposure to air), is an abundant +product of the combustion of coal. + +_Brande's Journal._ + + * * * * * + + +_Indigo._ + + +This valuable plant, which gives rise to as great speculation in India, +as hops in England, is much injured by wet weather; although the +rapidity of the growth of plants during much rain, in the temperature of +the tropics, is extraordinary, yet a proportional deficiency in all that +characterizes the vegetable world necessarily follows. This we find to +be the case with all forced vegetables; and the mildness of the radish +of hastened growth, when contrasted with the highly pungent and almost +acrid flavour of the slowly and gradually advanced one, may be adduced +as explanatory of this observation. Hence, it is practically well known +to manufacturers, that the indigo plant, however fine and luxuriant, as +is the natural result of much rain, is very deficient _in produce_, and +a similar loss is experienced even if the plant, without the fall of too +much rain, has grown up under cloudy weather. Sunshine, much and +continued sunshine, is essentially necessary for the proper exercise of +those secretory organs by which this peculiar drug is formed and +perfected. + +Indigo leaves produce two dyes--blue and yellow; but the refuse leaves, +when boiled for an hour and a half, will render the water yellow, tinged +with green. This water, kept boiling for two hours, (supplying the loss +by evaporation), will, when filtered, afford a precipitate, which, when +dried, will in colour be a dun-slate, and in quantity perhaps about +equal to the blue extract such leaves have produced. This observation, +as it can lead to no practical advantage, is made for the man of +science, rather than the man of business.--_Mr. C. Weston_--_in Brande's +Journal._ + + * * * * * + + +_Chain Bridge._ + + +Mr. Disney has lately erected at his seat the Hyde, Ingatestone, Essex, +a suspension bridge of common chain, which is much cheaper than either +wood or brick. It is fifty feet long, and four feet wide. The whole cost +of material, and workmanship scarcely exceeded 30_l_. Upon a rough +estimate, a wooden bridge of the same span would have cost from 80_l_. +to 100_l_., and a high arch probably from 150_l_. to 200_l_. The piers +or posts supporting the chains are of oak, but should they in ten or +fifteen years decay, 10_l_. in money, and three days in time would set +it up again.--_Brande's Jour._ + + * * * * * + + +_Stone Roofs._ + + +The Romans employed _pumice_ in building their arched incombustible +roofs. This porous material possessed the additional advantage, when +combined with good cement, of rendering the arched surface one united +petrifaction, opposing (in consequence of its firm union) little lateral +pressure, comparatively, against the sustaining walls. + +Bonomi, the architect, suggests that the principal cause of the +destructiveness of fires in large buildings, is the want of arched +surfaces of incombustible materials. This has been disastrously +exemplified in the destruction of the choir of York Minster, where the +roof of the aisles, which are solidly arched with stone, suffered no +injury; while the choir-roof, although much more raised above the action +of the fire, has been entirely destroyed by it. + + * * * * * + + +_Fossil Saurians._ + + +Several beautiful specimens of fossil saurians, or animals of the lizard +tribe, have, as our scientific readers are aware, been found at Lyme, in +Dorsetshire; but the world would to this day have remained ignorant of +the treasures England possessed, but for the patient labours of three +female pioneers in this service, viz. _Mary Anning_, a dealer; _Miss +Congrieve_, and _Miss Philpots_, residents, who for years had been +collecting and preserving these bodies from the wreck of the coast; the +two last without any other view than the gratification of a laudable +curiosity, and who, with unequalled liberality, communicated their +collections to every man of science that visited the place; and it is to +liberal minds like theirs, and Miss Bennet's, of Wiltshire that we owe +the first rescuing of these natural gems from the spoilers. We copy this +from a communication of Mr. Cumberland to Brande's Journal, and are +truly pleased to record such amiable examples of female excellence in +scientific pursuits. At Dover, Portsmouth, and other places we could +name, we obtained the best information respecting the fossils of the +coast, from females resident there, and we need not add that this +circumstance imparted additional interest to our inquiries. + + * * * * * + + +_The Zoological Society._ + + +We copy the following from the Report to the Zoological Society, just +published: + +"In the Museum in Bruton-street various improvements have taken place. +Additional cases have been erected, wherever space could be obtained, +for the exhibition of the different collections; and two persons have +been in constant employment in preparing and setting up the more +interesting specimens. An assistant has also been lately added, for the +arrangement of the shells, insects, and the other smaller subjects of +the collection; and much care has been bestowed upon the various +departments of comparative anatomy. An instructive as well as an +attractive series in every branch of zoology, but more particularly in +the groups of mammalia, birds, and insects, has thus been arranged for +inspection. A catalogue of the more important objects in the Museum has +been published; and a more detailed list, accompanied with scientific +notices of all the species, is in preparation. + +"The increase in the number of subjects in the collection during the +last year has been considerable, and many of the additions have been of +the utmost importance to science. The whole of these, with a few +exceptions, have been presented by the friends of the society. A +detailed list of these donations which are too numerous for insertion in +this report, is laid upon the table; a reference to the contents of +which will evince that the spirit of liberality, which laid the +foundations of this already valuable collection, has not decreased. + +"A very extensive correspondence has been established with naturalists +of foreign countries, and persons resident in distant parts, who are +anxious to promote the objects of the Society. Through these channels +many valuable acquisitions have been already received; and it is +expected that much of novelty and interest will continually pour in to +increase the attractions of the Museum and Menagerie. + +"The Garden in the Regent's Park is the principal source of attraction +and of expense. The nature of the soil, which consists of a thick +ungrateful clay, increases the cost of every work. The health of the +animals requires that oak floors be raised above the surface of the +ground; and it is necessary to lay a thick substratum of dry material +under every inclosure and every walk. These disadvantages are however +amply counterbalanced by its immediate vicinity to the town. The Council +have, notwithstanding the nature of the soil, endeavoured to give to the +garden all the attractions which good cultivation and an abundance of +flowers can afford: and they have to return their thanks for the very +liberal supplies for this purpose which they have occasionally received +from the Horticultural Society. The resort to the garden has far +surpassed the most sanguine expectations of the Council; 112,226 persons +have visited it during the last year." + + * * * * * + + + +THE NOVELIST + + + * * * * * + + +THE SIEGE OF ABYDOS. + +_A Romantic Tale._ + +(_For the Mirror._) + + +The infidel Turks, ever at variance with the Christians, were, in the +reign of king Orchanes, extremely ambitious to possess the famous Castle +of Abydos; and accordingly vast preparations were made for a close +siege. Previous to the arrival of the Turkish army before the castle, +the angelic Sophronia, daughter of the governor of Abydos, was visited +by a dream. She thought, that while walking out on a beautiful evening, +breathing the fragrant air, and gazing on the brilliant stars, she fell +into a loathsome ditch, in which she remained an hour, terrified, and +unable to move. At length, a handsome youth passed, and she implored him +to rescue her. She did not implore in vain; the young man assisted her +out, cleaned her clothes, and comforted her with pleasant words. They +then proceeded to a delightful bower, put on costly attire, and the +youth regaled the rescued lady with delicious fruits, and sang sonnets +on her personal beauty. Sophronia awoke, sad and disappointed, to find +that her late bliss was only a dream. In a day or two afterwards, the +Turkish army appeared, and a vigorous siege commenced; nevertheless, the +Christians stoutly defended the place, and would, ultimately, have +obliged the enemy to retire, had no intervention taken place. It +happened, unfortunately for the garrison, that a gallant Turkish +captain, in the prime of youth, called Abdurachman approached so near to +the castle gates, as to be plainly observed by the fair Sophronia, from +a small turret window, out of which she had viewed the besiegers. The +lady imagined this captain to be the person to whom she was so much +obliged in her dream, and rejoiced at the supposed discovery; she hoped +that the assailants would be successful in taking her father's castle +that she might have an opportunity of falling into the hands of the +gallant captain she so greatly admired. The siege still raged with much +fury, but was continually repulsed by the brave Christians, insomuch +that the Turkish general became disconcerted, and in the evening of the +third day after the commencement of the siege, retired to his camp, +about a league distant from the scene of action. Sophronia, meanwhile, +was agitated at the ill success of the Turks, though she did not despair +of seeing the captain again. + +She made a confidante of her maid Annis, who undertook, daring as the +attempt was, to steal from the castle to the enemy's camp, in order to +convey a letter from her mistress to Abdurachman. The intrepid Annis +commenced her task in the night: she avoided passing the sentinels and +wardens of the castle, but found her way to a postern gate, scarcely +known to any but herself. She arrived at Abdurachman's tent; the captain +was conversing with his friends about what the general intended to do on +the morrow. Annis desired to speak with him in private, to which he +consented. She then delivered the letter, which was bound with a lock of +the fair writer's hair, and the astonished Abdurachman perused the +following:-- + +"Adored Youth, + +"I am passionately in love with you, and am sorry that you have been +frustrated in your endeavours to take the castle. As I adore you beyond +measure, and shall certainly take poison if you do not succeed; I engage +to deliver Abydos with all its riches into your hands, provided you +follow my instructions. I advise, that in the morning by sunrise, you +raise the siege and withdraw your whole army from the castle, and return +not again till you hear from _me_. My father will be so rejoiced at your +departure, that he will be off his guard, and then I can easily conduct +you with secrecy into the castle." + +The delighted Turk very politely answered this remarkable _billet doux_, +assuring the fair writer that he was at her service, and that he would +implicitly follow her directions as to the taking of Abydos. As soon as +he had dismissed Annis, he flew with Sophronia's letter to the general, +who, upon reading it, expressed great astonishment; he determined to +raise the siege the next morning, and resolved to rely fully on the +beautiful traitress for the future success of his enterprise. The next +day came, and the general raised the siege and departed. The Christians +were rejoiced to see it, and in the evening made merry and drunk wine. +The governor's daughter took advantage of the garrison at this unguarded +moment; and fearing to trust again to the sincerity of her maid, +resolved to proceed herself to Abdurachman's tent. Annis led the way. +The night was serene, and the light of the moon showed the stately +castle of Abydos, dark and majestic. No noise was heard, save the heavy +and uniform step of the sentinels, whose bright arms, as they caught the +moon's rays, sparkled against the gloomy looking building. Little did +the inmates, now as tranquil as the night, dream of being surprised by +an enemy; and little did the brave governor imagine that his own beloved +daughter, at this moment, was treacherously hastening to a merciless +foe, with the intent to conduct him to Abydos! Sophronia reached her +lover's tent weary and faint, for she had walked with great haste. She +sank into the captain's arms, and then, almost inaudibly, informed him +that not a moment was to be lost, and that he must follow her +immediately to the castle. + +He obeyed, and having formed a litter for the lady, she was borne on the +shoulders of four stout Turks. When they arrived at the postern gate, +Sophronia told the captain that he, with his men, must first enter the +castle, and then kill the sentinels and wardens, after which he would be +enabled to give admittance to all his friends. The Turks strictly obeyed +the lady, who before the affair began hastened with Annis to her +apartment in order to await the issue of her plot. The Turks entered the +castle by hundreds, killing all they met, and were soon masters of the +place. Meanwhile, Sophronia and Annis, both dreadfully agitated, heard +from their chamber the dying groans of the poor Christians. Sometimes +the clashing of swords was distinguished, as if a number of persons were +engaged in combat; sometimes the loud lamentations of women intervened; +and sometimes the voices of the conquerors were alone heard in +exultation. At length the door of Sophronia's room burst open, and +Abdurachman rushed in to seize her, while Annis, nearly dead with +terror, calmly submitted to the grasp of a common soldier who +accompanied the captain. + +The dreadful scene was acted and over; the Turks were possessors of the +famed castle of Abydos, and Sophronia's father, the governor, was +hanged. Alas! deluded Sophronia! The faithless Abdurachman, whom she +supposed to have seen in a dream, regarded her not; even lots were cast +for her, and she fell to the share of one whom she did not know. The +beautiful Sophronia took poison and expired. + +G.W.N. + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + + * * * * * + + +THE LIBERTINE'S CONFESSION. + +_In Imitation of the Writers of the Sixteenth Century._ + + + I'm sad and sore afraid, + That fickle, and forsworn, + I've sported life away, + And now am left forlorn. + + Poor fool! I dreamt the years + Of youth would never fly, + And pleasure's brimming bowl + Methought could ne'er run dry. + + That woman's bounteous love + Should e'er wax cold for me! + It seem'd that she must first + A woman cease to be. + + Her fondest smiles I thought + My rights by charter were; + Her sighs, her tears, forsooth,-- + Whilst I--was free as air. + + I've knelt at many a shrine, + Of wit and beauty too; + I've lisp'd light vows to all, + And sworn that all were true. + + My pastime was to gain + Their young and grateful love, + Then break the heart I won, + And straight to others rove. + + Ah! wild wit, now at last + Thy vagrancies are o'er; + The ear and gazing eye + That you enthrall'd before. + + No longer hear or see; + Whilst those you now would woo, + The time-worn truant slight, + Nor dream of love with you. + + _New Monthly Magazine._ + + * * * * * + +Dublin is a great city. Dublin, as the late Lord L----th used to say, is +"one of the tay-drinkenest, say-bathinest, car-drivinest places in the +world; it flogs for _divarsion._" + + * * * * * + + +THE TOYMAN IS ABROAD. + +(_Concluded from page 46._) + + +There is a point at which the inconvenience of superfluities so far +exceeds their utility, that luxury becomes converted into a perfect +bore. What, for instance, but an annoyance, would be the most splendid +feast, to a man whose stomach is already overladen with food? Human +ingenuity may effect much; and the Romans, by means of emetics, met this +emergency with considerable skill; but on a more enlarged experience of +general history, it must be conceded, that it is quite impossible to add +one more superfluous meal to those already established by general usage. +So also in matters of dress, ladies' hats must not be larger than the +actual doorways of the country will admit--not at least until time is +allowed for a corresponding increase in our architectural proportions. +With respect to personal ornaments also, ear-rings must not be so +weighty as to tear the lobes of the ears; nor should a bracelet prevent, +by its size, the motions of the arm. "Barbaric pomp and gold" is a fine +thing; but a medallion, as heavy and as cumbrous as a shield, appended +to a lady's bosom, would be any thing but a luxury. So, in the other +extreme, a watch should not be so small as to render the dial-plate +illegible; nor should a shoe be so tight as to lame its wearer for life. +Beauty, it has been said, should learn to suffer; and there are, I am +aware, resources in vanity, that will reconcile man, and woman too, to +martyrdom; but these resources should not be exhausted wantonly; and in +pleasure, as in economy, there is no benefit in lighting the candle at +both ends. The true philosopher extracts the greatest good out of every +thing; and fools only, as Horace has it, run into one vice in trying to +avoid another. Let not the reader, from these remarks, suppose that +their author is a morose censurer of the times; or that the least sneer +is intended against that idol of all orthodoxy "things as they are." As +a general proposition, nothing can be more true, than that whatever is +established, even in the world of fashion, is, for the time being, +wisest, discreetest, best; and, woe betide the man that flies too +directly in its face. + +There is, however, one point upon which I own myself a little sore; and +in which, I do think, superfluities are carried to a somewhat vicious +excess. The point to which I allude, and I beg the patience of the +reader, is the vast increase of superfluities, which of late years have +become primary necessaries in the appointment of a well-furnished house. +Here, indeed, is a revolution; a revolution more formidable than the +French and the American emancipation put together. We all remember the +time when one tea-table, two or three card-tables, a pier glass, a small +detachment of chairs, with two armed corporals to command them, on +either side the fire-place, with a square piece of carpet in the centre +of the floor, made a very decent display in the drawing, or (as it was +then preposterously called) the dining-room. As yet, rugs for the hearth +were not; and twice a day did Betty go upon her knees to scour the +marble and uncovered slab. In the bedrooms of those days, a narrow slip +of carpet round the bed was the maximum of woollen integument allowed +for protecting the feet of the midnight wanderer from his couch; and, in +the staircases of the fairest mansions, a like slip meandered down the +centre of the flight of steps. At that time, curtains rose and fell in a +line parallel to the horizon, after the simple plan of the green +siparium of our theatres; and, being strictly confined to the windows, +they never dreamed of displaying themselves in front of a door. No +golden serpents then twisted their voluminous folds across the entire +breadth of the room; nor did richly-carved cods' heads and shoulders, +under the denomination of dolphins, or glittering spread eagles, with a +brass ring in their mouths, support fenestral draperies, which rival the +display of a Waterloo-house calico-vender. Thus far, I admit, the change +is an improvement. Nay, I could away with ladders to go to bed withal, +though many a time and oft they have broken my shins. I would not either +object to sofas and ottomans, in any reasonable proportion; but protest +I must, and in the strongest terms too, against such a multiplication +and variety of easy chairs, as effectually exclude the possibility of +easy sitting; and against the overweening increase of spider-tables, +that interferes with rectilinear progression. An harp mounted on a +sounding-board, which is a stumbling-block to the feet of the +short-sighted, is, I concede, an absolute necessity; and a piano-forte, +like a coffin, should occupy the centre even of the smallest given +drawing-room--"the court awards it, and the law doth give it,"--but why +multiply footstools, till there is no taking a single step in safety? An +Indian cabinet also, or a buhl armoire, are, either, or both of them, +very fit and becoming; but it cannot be right to make a broker's shop of +your best apartment. An ink-stand, as large as a show twelfth-cake, is +just and lawful; ditto, an ornamental escrutoire; and a _nécessaire_ for +the work-table is, if there be meaning in language, perfectly necessary. +These, with an adequate contingent of musical snuff-boxes, _or molu_ +clocks, China figures, alabaster vases and flower-pots, together with a +discreet superfluity of cut-paper nondescripts, albums, screens, toys, +prints, caricatures, duodecimo classics, new novels and souvenirs, to +cut a dash, and litter the tables, must be allowed to the taste and +refinement of the times. But surely some space should be left for +depositing a coffee-cup, or laying down a useful volume, when the hand +may require to be relieved from its weight, or when it is proper to take +a pinch of snuff, or agreeable to wipe one's forehead. Josses, beakers, +and Sevres' vases have unquestionably the _entrée_ into a genteel +apartment; but they are not entitled to a monopoly of the _locale_; nor +are Roman antiquities, or statues even by Canova, justifiable in +usurping the elbow-room of living men and women. Most unfortunately for +myself, I have a very small house, and a wife of the most enlarged +taste; and the disproportion between these blessings is so great, that I +cannot move without the risk of a heavy pecuniary loss by breakage, and +a heavier personal affliction in perpetual imputations of awkwardness. +Then, again, it is no easy matter to put on a smiling and indifferent +countenance, whenever a friend, accustomed to some latitude of motion, +runs, as is often the case, his devastating chair against a high-priced +work of art, or overturns a table laden with an "infinite thing" in +costly _bijouterie_. I have long made it a rule to exclude from my +visiting-list, or at least not to let up stairs, ladies who pay their +morning calls with a retinue of children: but the thing is not always +possible; and one urchin with his whip will destroy more in half an +hour, than the worth of a month's average domestic expenditure. Oh! how +I hate the little fidgeting, fingering, dislocating imps! A bull in a +china-shop is innocuous to the most orderly and amenable of them. Why +did Providence make children? and why does not some wise Draconic law +banish them for ever to the nursery? + +The general merit of nick-nacks is unquestioned. Ornaments, I admit, are +ornamental; and works of art afford intellectual amusement of the +highest order. But then perfection is their only merit; and a crack or a +flaw destroys all the pleasure of a sensible beholder. Yet I have not a +statue that is not a torso, nor a Chelsea china shepherdess with her +full complement of fingers. I have not a vase with both its handles, a +snuff-box that performs its waltz correctly, nor a volume of prints that +is not dogs-eared, stained, and ink-spotted. These are serious evils; +but they are the least that flow from a neglect of the maxim which +stands at the head of my paper. Perpend it well, reader; and bear ever +in mind that, in our desires, as in our corporeal structure, it is not +given to man to add a cubit to his stature. I am very tired; so "dismiss +me--enough." _New Monthly Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + + +NOTES OF A READER. + + + * * * * * + + +THE QUARTERLY REVIEW. + + +No. 81, of this truly excellent work had not reached us in time for the +close reading which it demands, and our "Notes" from it at present are +consequently few. The first in the number is a powerful paper on Dr. +Southey's _Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society_--"a +beautiful book," says the reviewer, "full of wisdom and devotion--of +poetry and feeling; conceived altogether in the spirit of other times, +such as the wise men of our own day may scoff at, but such as Evelyn, or +Isaak Walton, or Herbert would have delighted to honour." The work is in +general too polemical and political for our pages; but we may hereafter +be tempted to carve out a few pastoral pictures of the delightful +country round Keswick, where Dr. Southey resides. The present Review +contains but few extracts to our purpose, and is rather a paper on the +spirit of the _Colloquies_, than analytical of their merits. We take, +for example, the following admirable passage on the progress of +religious indifference; in which we break off somewhat hastily, +premising that the reader will be induced to turn to the Review itself +for the remainder of the article:-- + +There was a time, since the worship of images, (and happy would it have +been if the religious habits of the country had thenceforth stood +fixed,) when appropriate texts adorned the walls of the dwelling-rooms, +and children received at night a father's blessing;--and "let us worship +God" was said with solemn air, by the head of the household; and +churches were resorted to daily; and "the parson in journey" gave notice +for prayers in the hall of the inn--"for prayers and provender," quoth +he, "hinder no man;" and the cheerful angler, as he sat under the +willow-tree, watching his quill, trolled out a Christian catch. "Here we +may sit and pray, before death stops our breath;" and the merchant (like +the excellent Sutton, of the Charter House) thought how he could make +his merchandize subservient to the good of his fellow-citizens and the +glory of his God, and accordingly endowed some charitable, and learned, +and religious foundation, worthy of the munificence of a crowned head; +and the grave historian (Lord Clarendon himself does so) chose a text in +his Bible as a motto for his chapter on politics; and religion, in +short, reached unto every place, and, like Elisha stretched on the dead +child, (to use one of Jeremy Taylor's characteristic illustrations), +gave life and animation to every part of the body politic. But years +rolled on; and the original impulse given at the Reformation, and +augmented at the Rebellion, to undervalue all outward forms, has +silently continued to prevail, till, with the form of godliness, (much +of it, up doubt, objectionable, but much of it wholesome), the power in +a considerable degree expired too. + +Accordingly, our churches are now closed in the week-days, for we are +too busy to repair to them; our politicians crying out, with Pharaoh, +"Ye are idle, ye are idle; therefore would ye go and do sacrifice to the +Lord." Our cathedrals, it is true, are still open; but where are the +worshippers? Instead of entering in, the citizen avails himself of the +excellent clock which is usually attached to them, sets his watch, and +hastens upon 'Change, where the congregation is numerous and punctual, +and where the theological speculations are apt to run in Shylock's vein +pretty exclusively. If a church will answer, then, indeed, a joint-stock +company springs up; and a church is raised with as much alacrity, and +upon the same principles, as a play-house. The day when the people +brought their gifts is gone by. The "_solid temples_," that heretofore +were built as if not to be dissolved till doomsday, have been succeeded +by thin emaciated structures, bloated out by coats of flatulent plaster, +and supported upon cast-metal pegs, which the courtesy of the times +calls pillars of the church. The painted windows, that admitted a dim +religious light, have given place to the cheap house-pane and dapper +green curtain. The front, with its florid reliefs and capacious crater, +has dwindled into a miserable basin. + + * * * * * + + +AN ARTIST'S FAME. + + + _Painter._ Let none call happy one whose art's deep source + They know not--or what thorny paths he trode + To reach its dazzling goal! + _Marquis._ What dost thou mean? + _Painter._ I'll seek a simile--Some gorgeous cloud + Oft towers in wondrous majesty before ye-- + It bathes its bosom in pure ether's flood, + Evening twines crowns of roses for its head, + And for its mantle weaves a fringe of gold; + Ye gaze on it admiring and enchanted-- + Yet know not whence its airy structure rose! + If it breathe incense from some holy altar, + Or earth-born vapours from the teeming soil, + When rain from Heav'n descends--if fiery breath + Of battle, or the darkly rolling smoke + Of conflagration, thus its giant towers + Pile on the sky--ye care not, but enjoy + Its form and glory,--Thus it is with art! + Whether 'twere born amid the sunny depths + Of a glad heart entranced in mutual love-- + Or, likelier far, alas! the sorrowing child + Of restless anguish, and baptized in tears-- + Or wrung from Genius even amid the throes + Of worse than death--Ye gaze and ye admire, + Nor pause to ask what it hath cost the heart + That gave it being! + + _Blackwood's Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + Romance is ever readier + To make unbidden sacrifice, than rear + The sober edifice of mutual bliss! Ibid. + + * * * * * + + +TRUE PATRIOTISM. + + +Promote religion--protect public morals--repress vice and +infidelity--keep the different classes of the community in strict +subordination to each other--and cherish the principles, feelings, and +habits, which give stability, beauty, and happiness to society. + +Descend from the clouds of political economy, and travel in safety on +your mother earth; cast away the blinding spectacles of the +philosophers, and use the eyes you have received from nature. Practise +the vulgar principles, that it is erroneous to ruin immense good +markets, to gain petty bad ones--that you cannot carry on losing +trade--that you cannot live without profit--and that you cannot eat +without income. And pule no more about individual economy, but eat, and +drink, and enjoy yourselves, like your fathers. What! in these days of +free trade, to tell the hypochondriacal Englishman that the foaming +tankard, the honest bottle of port, and the savoury sirloin, must be +prohibited articles! You surely wish us to hang and drown ourselves by +wholesale.--Ibid. + + * * * * * + + +THE FORGET-ME-NOT. + + +The following account of the origin of the name "Forget-me-not," is +extracted from Mill's _History of Chivalry_, and was communicated to +that work by Dr. A.T. Thomson:--"Two lovers were loitering on the margin +of a lake on a fine summer's evening, when the maiden espied some of the +flowers of Myosòtis growing on the water, close to the bank of an +island, at some distance from the shore. She expressed a desire to +possess them, when the knight, in the true spirit of chivalry, plunged +into the water, and swimming to the spot, cropped the wished for plant, +but his strength was unable to fulfill the object of his achievement, +and feeling that he could not regain the shore, although very near it, +he threw the flowers upon the bank, and casting a last affectionate look +upon his lady-love, he cried 'Forget me not!' and was buried in the +waters."--_Gardener's Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + +HOME. + + + _Leonhard._ See here what spacious halls: how all around + Us breathes magnificence! + + _Spinarosa._ A princely pile! + But ah! how nobler far its daring site! + It rears its tow'rs amid these rocks and glaciers, + As if proud man were in his might resolved + To add _his_ rock to those that spurn the vale. + + _Leon._ All here is beautiful! but 'tis not home! + 'Tis true I was a child scarce eight years old + When led by Pietro into Italy-- + Yet are my home's green lineaments as fresh + As when first painted on my infant soul; + This castle bears them not.--My home lay hid + In the deep bosom of gigantic oaks, + That o'er its roof their guardian shadows flung. + Nor towers, nor gates, nor pinnacles, were there; + With lowly thatch and humble wicket graced, + Smiling, yet solitary, did it stand. + + _Blackwood's Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + +IRISH SONGS. + + +It is impossible to conceive any trash more despicable than the slang +songs which are current amongst the common people in Ireland; and this +is the more to be lamented, as the extreme susceptibility of the people +makes them liable to be easily moved to either good or evil by their +songs. Even the native Irish songs, as we are informed in Miss Brooke's +_Reliques of Irish Poetry_, are sadly interpolated with nonsensical +passages, which have been introduced to supply the place of lost or +forgotten lines; and of humorous lyrical poetry, she says there was none +in the language worth translating. Moore has given to the beautiful airs +of Ireland beautiful words; but Moore is a poet for ladies and +gentlemen, not for mankind. It may be, that there are not materials in +Ireland, for a kindred spirit to that of Burns to work upon; but the +fact is but too true, that the _poor_ Irishman has no song of even +decent ability, to cheer his hours of merriment, or soothe the period of +his sadness. Honour and undying praise be upon the memory of Burns, who +has left to us those songs which, like the breath of nature, from whose +fresh inspiration they were caught, are alike refreshing to the monarch +and the clown!--Ibid. + + * * * * * + + +A REAL MIRACLE. + + +The _fable_ of Dr. Southey's _Pilgrim of Compostella_, is as follows:-- + +A family set forth from Aquitaine to visit the shrine of St. James, at +Compostella, whither, according to the Catholic faith, the decapitated +body of that saint was conveyed from Palestine, (miraculously of +course,) in a ship of marble. At a certain small town by the way, their +son Pierre is tempted by the innkeeper's daughter. Like a second Joseph, +he resists the immodest damsel; like Potiphar's wife, she converts her +love to hate, and accuses the virtuous youth of a capital crime. Her +false oaths prevail, and he is condemned to the gallows. Rejoicing in +his martyred innocence, he exhorts his parents to pursue their +pilgrimage, and pray for the peace of his soul. Sorrowing, they proceed, +and returning, find their son hanging by the neck alive, and singing +psalms--in no actual pain--but naturally desirous to be freed from his +extraordinary state of suspended animation. They repair to the chief +magistrate of the town, by whose authority the youth was executed--find +his worship at dinner--relate the wonderful preservation of their +son--and request that he may be restored. The magistrate is incredulous, +and declares that he would sooner believe that the fowls on which he was +dining would rise again in full feather. The miracle is performed. The +cock and hen spring from the ocean of their own gravy, clacking and +crowing, with all appurtenances of spur, comb, and feather. Pierre, of +course, is liberated, and declared innocent. The cock and hen become +objects of veneration--live in a state of chastity--and are finally +translated--leaving just two eggs, from which arise another immaculate +cock and hen. The breed is perhaps still in existence, and time hath +been, that a lucrative trade was carried on in their feathers!!!--Ibid.. + + * * * * * + + + +THE GATHERER. + + + A snapper up of unconsidered trifles. + SHAKSPEARE. + + * * * * * + +Of Hogarth's first attempt at satire, the following story is related by +Nichols, who had it from one of Hogarth's fellow workmen. "One summer +Sunday, during his apprenticeship, he went with three companions to +Highgate, and the weather being warm and the way dusty, they went into a +public house, and called for ale. There happened to be other customers +in the house, who to free drinking added fierce talking, and a quarrel +ensued. One of them on receiving a blow with the bottom of a quart pot, +looked so ludicrously rueful, that Hogarth snatched out a pencil and +sketched him as he stood. It was very like and very laughable, and +contributed to the restoration of order and good humour." + + * * * * * + + +THE "GOOD BOY" LOVER. + + +"When I was a lad," said a facetious gentleman to the recorder of the +anecdote, "I was, or rather fancied myself to be, desperately in love +with a very charming young lady. Dining at her parents' house one day, I +was unfortunately helped to the gizzard of a chicken, attached to one of +the wings. Aware, like most '_good boys_' that it was extremely +ungenteel to leave anything upon my plate, and being over anxious to act +with etiquette and circumspection in this interesting circle, I, as a +'good boy' wished strictly to conform myself to the rules of good +breeding. But the _gizzard_ of a fowl! Alas! it was impossible! how +unfortunate! I _abhorred_ it! No, I could not either for _love_ or money +have swallowed such a thing! So, after blushing, playing with the +annoyance, and casting many a side-long glance to see if I was observed, +I contrived at length to roll it from my plate into my _mouchoir_, which +I had placed on my knees purposely for its reception; the next minute +all was safely lodged in my pocket. Conversing with the object of my +affections, during the evening, in a state of nervous forgetfulness, I +drew forth my handkerchief, and in a superb flourish, out flew the +GIZZARD! Good heavens! my fair one stared, coloured, laughed; I was +petrified; away flew my ecstatic dreams; and out of the house I flung +myself without one '_au revoir_,' but with a consciousness of the truth +of that delectable ballad which proclaims, that 'Love _has_ EYES!!' I +thought no more of love in that quarter, believe me!" M.L.B. + + * * * * * + + +ADMIRAL RODNEY. + + +During the heat of the memorable battles with Count de Grasse, of April +9th and 12th, 1782, the gallant Rodney desired his young aid-de-camp +(Mr. Charles Dashwood[9]) to make him a glass of lemonade, the +ingredients for which were at hand. Not having any thing to stir it with +but a knife, already discoloured by the cutting of the lemon, Sir George +coolly said, on Mr. Dashwood presenting it to him, "Child, that may do +for a midshipman, but not for an admiral--take it yourself, and send my +servant to me." C.C. + + [9] Afterwards advanced to the rank of post captain, in 1801. + + * * * * * + + +EXPRESSIVE WORDS. + + +I knew very well a French Chevalier, who on coming to England, applied +himself with amazing ardour to the study of our language, and his +remarks upon it, if not always very acute were at least entertaining. +One day, reading aloud an English work, he stopped at the word SPLASH; +expressed himself highly delighted with it, as a term, which minutely +described the thing meant; then repeating it many times with marked +pleasure, and a strong sibillation, he added, "No! no! dere is noting at +all, noting in _my_ language dat de same would be like _splash_!" +Perhaps the following sentence from the satire of a notorious wit in +Elizabeth's reign, is a fair specimen of those expressive words which +_paint_, the object of which they speak:--"To which place, Gabriel came, +_ruffling_ it out, hufty-tufty, in his new suit of velvet." The man was +vain; the writer has made him a _peacock_. M.L.B. + + * * * * * + +I would no more bring a new work out in summer than I would sell pork in +the dog-days.--_Bookseller in Cit. World._ + + * * * * * + +LIMBIRD'S EDITIONS. + +CHEAP and POPULAR WORKS published at the MIRROR OFFICE in the Strand, +near Somerset House. + +The ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS, Embellished with nearly 150 +Engravings. Price 6s. 6d. boards. + +The TALES of the GENII. Price 2s. + +The MICROCOSM: By the Right Hon. G. CANNING. &c. Price 2s. + +PLUTARCH'S LIVES, with Fifty Portraits, 2 vols. price 13s. boards. + +COWPER'S POEMS, with 12 Engravings, price 3s. 6d. boards. + +COOK'S VOYAGES, 2 vols. price 8s. boards. + +The CABINET of CURIOSITIES: or, WONDERS of the WORLD DISPLAYED. Price +5s. boards. + +BEAUTIES of SCOTT. 2 vols. price 7s. boards. + +The ARCANA of SCIENCE for 1828. Price 4s. 6d. + +*** Any of the above Works can be purchased in Parts. + +GOLDSMITH'S ESSAYS. Price 8d. +DR. FRANKLIN'S ESSAYS. Price 1s. 2d. +BACON'S ESSAYS Price 8d. +SALMAGUNDI. Price 1s. 8d. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, +and Instruction, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11462 *** diff --git a/11462-h/11462-h.htm b/11462-h/11462-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3467b3e --- /dev/null +++ b/11462-h/11462-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1626 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content= +"HTML Tidy for Solaris (vers 1st October 2003), see www.w3.org" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> +<title>The Mirror of Literature, Issue 382.</title> + +<style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[*/ + + <!-- + body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + p {text-align: justify;} + blockquote {text-align: justify;} + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center;} + pre {font-size: 0.7em;} + + hr {text-align: center; width: 50%;} + html>body hr {margin-right: 25%; margin-left: 25%; width: 50%;} + hr.full {width: 100%;} + html>body hr.full {margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 0%; width: 100%;} + hr.short {text-align: center; width: 20%;} + html>body hr.short {margin-right: 40%; margin-left: 40%; width: 20%;} + + .note, .footnote + {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + + span.pagenum + {position: absolute; left: 1%; right: 91%; font-size: 8pt;} + + .poem + {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem p {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem p.i2 {margin-left: 1em;} + .poem p.i4 {margin-left: 2em;} + .poem p.i6 {margin-left: 3em;} + .poem p.i8 {margin-left: 4em;} + .poem p.i10 {margin-left: 5em;} + + .figure + {padding: 1em; margin: 0; text-align: center; font-size: 0.8em; margin: auto;} + .figure img + {border: none;} + .figure p + + .side { float:right; + font-size: 75%; + width: 25%; + padding-left:10px; + border-left: dashed thin; + margin-left: 10px; + text-align: left; + text-indent: 0; + font-weight: bold; + font-style: italic;} + --> +/*]]>*/ +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11462 ***</div> + +<hr class="full" /> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page49" name="page49"></a>[pg +49]</span> +<h1>THE MIRROR<br /> +OF<br /> +LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.</h1> +<hr class="full" /> +<table width="100%" summary="Volume, Number, and Date"> +<tr> +<td align="left"><b>Vol. 14. No. 382.]</b></td> +<td align="center"><b>SATURDAY, JULY 25, 1829</b></td> +<td align="right"><b>[PRICE 2d.</b></td> +</tr> +</table> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>POPE'S TEMPLE, AT HAGLEY</h2> +<div class="figure" style="width:80%;"><a href= +"images/382-1.png"><img width="100%" src="images/382-1.png" alt= +"Pope's Temple, at Hagley" /></a></div> +<p>Reader! are you going out of town "<i>in search of the +picturesque</i>"—if so, bend your course to the classic, the +consecrated ground of HAGLEY! think of LYTTLETON, POPE, SHENSTONE, +and THOMSON, or refresh your memory from the "<i>Spring</i>" of the +latter, as—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Courting the muse, thro' <i>Hagley</i> Park thou strayst.</p> +<p>Thy <i>British Tempe</i>! There along the dale,</p> +<p>With woods o'erhung, and shagg'd with mossy rocks,</p> +<p>Whence on each hand the gushing waters play,</p> +<p>And down the rough cascade white dashing fall,</p> +<p>Or gleam in lengthen'd vista through the trees,</p> +<p>You silent steal; or sit beneath the shade</p> +<p>Of solemn oaks, that tuft the swelling mounts</p> +<p>Thrown graceful round by Nature's careless hand,</p> +<p>And pensive listen to the various voice</p> +<p>Of rural peace; the herds, the flocks, the birds,</p> +<p>The hollow-whispering breeze, the 'plaint of rills,</p> +<p>That, purling down amid the twisted roots</p> +<p>Which creep around their dewy murmurs shake</p> +<p>On the sooth'd ear.</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>Such is the fervid language in which the Poet of the year +invoked</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"LYTTLETON, the friend!"</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>Yet these lines will kindle the delight and reverence of every +lover of Nature, in common with the effect of the <i>Seasons</i> on +the reader, who "wonders that he never saw before what Thomson +shows him, and that he never yet has felt what Thomson +impresses."<a id="footnotetag1" name="footnotetag1"></a><a href= +"#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a></p> +<p>But we quit these nether flights of song to describe the +locality of Hagley Park, of whose beauties our Engraving is but a +mere vignette, and in comparison like holding a candle to the sun. +The village of Hagley is a short distance from Bromsgrove, in +Worcestershire, whence the pleasantest route to the park is to turn +to the right on the Birmingham road, which cuts the grounds into +two unequal parts. The house is a plain and even simple, yet +classical edifice. Whately, in his work on Gardening, describes it +as surrounded by a lawn, of fine uneven ground, and diversified +with large clumps, little groups, and single trees; it is open in +front, but covered on one side by the Witchbury hills; on the other +side, and behind by the eminences in the park, which are high and +steep, and all overspread with a lofty hanging wood. The lawn +pressing to the front, or creeping up the slopes of three hills, +and sometimes winding along glades <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page50" name="page50"></a>[pg 50]</span> into the depth of the +wood, traces a beautiful outline to a sylvan scene, already rich to +luxuriance in massive foliage, and stately growth. The present +house was built by the first Lord Lyttleton, not on, but near to, +the site of the ancient family mansion, a structure of the +sixteenth century. Admission may be obtained on application to the +housekeeper; and for paintings, carving, and gilding, Hagley is one +of the richest show-houses in the kingdom.<a id="footnotetag2" +name="footnotetag2"></a><a href="#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a></p> +<p>Much as the visiter will admire the refined taste displayed +within the mansion, his admiration will be heightened by the +classic taste in which the grounds are disposed. A short distance +from the house, embosomed in trees, stands the church, built in the +time of Henry III.; with a sublime Gothic arch, richly painted +windows, and a ceiling fretted with the heraldic fires of the +Lyttleton family, whose tombs are placed on all sides; among them, +the resting-place of the gay poet is distinguished by the following +plain inscription:—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>This unadorned stone was placed here</p> +<p>By the particular desire and express</p> +<p>Directions of the Right Honourable</p> +<p class="i2">GEORGE, LORD LYTTLETON,</p> +<p>Who died August 22, 1773, aged 64.</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>Leaving the church we ascend to the crest of a hill, on which +stands the Prince of Wales's Pillar. From this point, the view is +inexpressibly beautiful, in which may be seen an octagon seat +sacred to the memory of Thomson, and erected on the brow of a +verdant steep, his favourite spot. In the foreground is a gently +winding valley; on the rising hill beyond is a noble wood, whilst +to the right the open country fades in the distance; on the left +the Clent hills appear, and a dusky antique tower stands just below +them at the extremity of the wood; whilst in the midst of it, we +can discern the <i>Doric temple sacred to Pope</i>. This exquisite +gem of the picturesque is represented in our Engraving.</p> +<p>In the adjoining grove of oaks is the antique tower; in a +beautiful amphitheatre of wood, an Ionic rotunda; and in an +embowering grove a Palladian bridge, with a light airy portico. +Here on a fine lawn is the urn inscribed to Pope, mentioned by +Shenstone:</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Here Pope! ah, never must that towering mind</p> +<p>To his loved haunts, or dearer friend return;</p> +<p>What art, what friendship! oh! what fame resign'd;</p> +<p>In yonder glade I trace his mournful urn.</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>At the end of the valley, in an obscure corner is a hermitage, +composed of roots and moss, whence we look down on a piece of water +in the hollow, thickly shaded with tall trees, (<i>see the +engraving</i>,) over which is a fine view of distant landscape. +This spot is the extremity of the park, and the Clent hills rise in +all their wild irregularity, immediately behind it.</p> +<p>We have not space to describe, or rather to abridge from +Whately's beautiful description, a tithe of the classic +embellishments of Hagley. Shenstone as well as Pope has here his +votive urn. Ivied ruin, temple, grotto, statue, fountain, and +bridge; the proud portico and the humble rustic seat, alternate +amidst these ornamental charms, and never were Nature and art more +delightfully blended than in the beauties of Hagley. Here Pope, +Shenstone, and Thomson<a id="footnotetag3" name= +"footnotetag3"></a><a href="#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a> passed +many hours of calm contemplation and poetic ease, amidst the +hospitalities of the noble owner of Hagley. To think of their +kindred spirits haunting its groves, and their imaginative +contrivances of votive temples, urns, and tablets, and to combine +them with these enchanting scenes of Nature, is to realize all that +Poets have sung of Arcadia of old. Happy! happy life for the man of +letters; what a retreat must your bowers have afforded from the +common-place perplexities of every-day life: Alas! the picture is +almost too sunny for sober contemplation.</p> +<hr /> +<p><i>In part of the impression of our last Number, we stated the +architect of the front of</i> Apsley House, <i>to be Sir Jeffrey +Wyatville, instead of Mr. Benjamin Wyatt, by whom the design was +furnished, and under whose superintendence this splendid +improvement has been executed. Mr. B. Wyatt is likewise the +architect of the superb mansion built for the late Duke of +York.</i></p> +<hr /> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page51" name="page51"></a>[pg +51]</span> +<h3>INGRATITUDE.</h3> +<h3>A DRAMATIC SKETCH.</h3> +<h4>(<i>For the Mirror</i>.)</h4> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Hence, faithless wretch! thou hast forgot the hand</p> +<p>That sav'd thee from oppression—from the grasp</p> +<p>Of want. I fed you once—then you was poor:</p> +<p>Even as I am now. Yet from the store</p> +<p>Of your abundance, you refuse to grant</p> +<p>The veriest trifle. May the bounty</p> +<p>Of that great God who gave you what you have</p> +<p>Ne'er from you flow. You have forgot me, sir,</p> +<p>But I remember ere I left this land,</p> +<p>By way of traffic for the western world,</p> +<p>I had a favourite, faithful dog,</p> +<p>Who for the kindnesses I pour'd upon him</p> +<p>Would fawn upon me: not in flattery,</p> +<p>But in a sort that spoke his generous nature.</p> +<p>Lasting as memory,</p> +<p>Faster than friendship—deeper than the wave</p> +<p>Is the affection of a mindless brute.</p> +<p>In a few hours (for I can almost see</p> +<p>The cot wherein these travell'd bones were cradled,)</p> +<p>I shall have ended an untoward enterprize,</p> +<p>And if that honest creature I have told you of</p> +<p>Still breathes this vital air, and will not know me,</p> +<p>May hospitality keep closed her gates</p> +<p>Against me, till I find a home within</p> +<p>The grave.<span style="margin-left:3em">CYMBELINE.</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<hr /> +<h3>M. BOILEAU TO HIS GARDENER.</h3> +<h3>IMITATED</h3> +<h4>(<i>For the Mirror</i>.)</h4> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Industrious man, thou art a prize to me,</p> +<p>The best of masters—surely born for thee;</p> +<p>Thou keeper art of this my rural seat,<a id="footnotetag4" name= +"footnotetag4"></a><a href="#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a></p> +<p>Kept at my charge to keep my garden neat;</p> +<p>To train the woodbine and to crop the yew—</p> +<p>In th' art of gard'ning equall'd p'rhaps by few.</p> +<p>O! could I cultivate my barren soul,</p> +<p>As thou this garden canst so well control;</p> +<p>Pluck up each brier and thorn, by frequent toil,</p> +<p>And clear the mind as thou canst cleanse the soil<a id= +"footnotetag5" name="footnotetag5"></a><a href= +"#footnote5"><sup>5</sup></a></p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>But now, my faithful servant, Anthony,</p> +<p>Just speak, and tell me what you think of me;</p> +<p>When through the day amidst the gard'ning trade</p> +<p>You bear the wat'ring pot, or wield the spade,</p> +<p>And by your labour cause each part to yield,</p> +<p>And make my garden like a fruitful field;</p> +<p>What say you, when you see me musing there</p> +<p>With looks intent as lost in anxious care,</p> +<p>And sending forth my sentiments in words</p> +<p>That oft intimidate the peaceful birds?</p> +<p>Dost thou not then suppose me void of rest,</p> +<p>Or think some demon agitates my breast?</p> +<p>Yon villagers, you know, are wont to say</p> +<p>Thy master's fam'd for writing many a lay,</p> +<p>'Mongst other matters too he's known to sing</p> +<p>The glorious acts of our victorious king;<a id="footnotetag6" +name="footnotetag6"></a><a href="#footnote6"><sup>6</sup></a></p> +<p>Whose martial fame resounds thro' every town;</p> +<p>Unparallel'd in wisdom and renown.</p> +<p>You know it well—and by this garden wall</p> +<p>P'rhaps Mons and Namur<a id="footnotetag7" name= +"footnotetag7"></a><a href="#footnote7"><sup>7</sup></a> at this +instant fall.</p> +<p>What shouldst thou think if haply some should say</p> +<p>This noted chronicler's employ'd to-day</p> +<p>In writing something new—and thus his time</p> +<p>Devotes to thee—to paint his thoughts in rhyme?</p> +<p>My master, thou wouldst say, can ably teach,</p> +<p>And often tells me more than parsons preach;</p> +<p>But still, methinks, if he was forc'd to toil</p> +<p>Like me each day—to cultivate the soil,</p> +<p>To prune the trees, to keep the fences round;</p> +<p>Reduce the rising to the level ground,</p> +<p>Draw water from the fountains near at hand</p> +<p>To cheer and fertilize the thirsty land,</p> +<p>He would not trade in trifles such as these,</p> +<p>And drive the peaceful linnets from the trees.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Now, Anthony, I plainly see that you</p> +<p>Suppose yourself the busiest of the two;</p> +<p>But ah, methinks you'd tell a diff'rent tale</p> +<p>If two whole days beyond the garden pale</p> +<p>You were to leave the mattock and the spade</p> +<p>And all at once take up the poet's trade:</p> +<p>To give a manuscript a fairer face,</p> +<p>And all the beauty of poetic grace;</p> +<p>Or give the most offensive flower that blows</p> +<p>Carnation's sweets, and colours of the rose;</p> +<p>And change the homely language of the clown</p> +<p>To suit the courtly readers of the town—</p> +<p>Just such a work, in fact, I mean to say,</p> +<p>As well might please the critics of the day!</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Soon from this work returning tir'd and lean,</p> +<p>More tann'd than though you'd twenty summers seen,</p> +<p>The wonted gard'ning tools again you'd take</p> +<p>Your long-accustom'd shovel and your rake;</p> +<p>And then exclaiming, you would surely say,</p> +<p>'Twere better far to labour many a day</p> +<p>Than e'er attempt to take such useless flights,</p> +<p>And vainly strive to gain poetic heights,</p> +<p>Impossible to reach—I might as soon</p> +<p>Ascend at once and land upon the moon!</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Come, Anthony, attend: let me explain</p> +<p>(Although an idler) weariness and pain.</p> +<p>Man's ever rack'd and restless, here below,</p> +<p>And at his best estate must labour know.</p> +<p>Then comes fatigue. The Sisters nine may please</p> +<p>And promise poets happiness and ease;</p> +<p>But e'en amidst those trees, that cooling shade,</p> +<p>That calm retreat for them expressly made,</p> +<p>No rest they find—there rich effusions flow</p> +<p>In all the measures bardic numbers know:</p> +<p>Thus on their way in endless toil they move,</p> +<p>And spend their strength in labours that they love.</p> +<p>Beneath the trees the bards the muses haunt,</p> +<p>And with incessant toil are seen to pant;</p> +<p>But still amidst their pains, they pleasure find</p> +<p>An ample entertainment for the mind.</p> +<p>But, after all, 'tis plain enough to me,</p> +<p>A man unstudious, must unhappy be;</p> +<p>Who deems a dull, inactive life the best,</p> +<p>A life of laziness, a life of rest;</p> +<p>A willing slave to sloth—and well I know,</p> +<p>He suffers much who nothing has to do.</p> +<p>His mind beclouded, he obscurely sees,</p> +<p>And free from busy life imagines ease.</p> +<p>All sinful pleasures reign without control,</p> +<p>And passions unsubdued pollute the soul;</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page52" name="page52"></a>[pg +52]</span> +<p>He thus indulges in impure desires,</p> +<p>Which long have lurk'd within, like latent fires:</p> +<p>At length they kindle—burst into a flame</p> +<p>On him they sport—sad spectacle of shame.</p> +<p>Remorse ensues—with every fierce disease.</p> +<p>The stone and cruel gout upon him seize;</p> +<p>To quell their rage some fam'd physicians come</p> +<p>Who scarce less cruel, crowd the sick man's room;</p> +<p>On him they operate—these learned folk,</p> +<p>Make him saw rocks, and cleave the solid oak;<a id= +"footnotetag8" name="footnotetag8"></a><a href= +"#footnote8"><sup>8</sup></a></p> +<p>And gladly would the man his fate resign</p> +<p>For such an humble, happy state as thine.</p> +<p>Be thankful, Anthony, and think with me,</p> +<p>The poor hardworking man may happier be</p> +<p>If blest with strength, activity, and health,</p> +<p>Than those who roll in luxury and wealth.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Two truths important, I proceed to tell,</p> +<p>One is a truth, you surely know full well;</p> +<p>That labour is essential here below</p> +<p>To man—a source of weal instead of woe:</p> +<p>The other truth, few words suffice to prove,</p> +<p>No blame attaches to the life I love.</p> +<p>So still attend—but I must say no more,</p> +<p>I plainly see, you wish my sermon o'er;</p> +<p>You gape, you close your eyes, you drop your chin,</p> +<p>Again methinks I'd better not begin.</p> +<p>Besides, these melons seem to wish to know</p> +<p>The reason why they are neglected so;</p> +<p>And ask if yonder village holds its feast</p> +<p>And thou awhile art there detained a guest,</p> +<p>While all the flowery tribes make sad complaint.</p> +<p>For want of water they are grown quite faint.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><i>Tipton.</i><span style="margin-left:3em">T.S.A.</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THE SELECTOR, AND LITERARY NOTICES OF <i>NEW WORKS.</i></h2> +<hr /> +<h3>LIVES OF BRITISH PAINTERS, SCULPTORS, AND ARCHITECTS.</h3> +<h4><i>By Allan Cunningham.</i></h4> +<p>This volume is the first of a series of Lives of Artists, and +the fourth number of Murray's <i>Family Library</i>. The author is +a first-rate poet, but it appears that he undertook this task with +some diffidence. We have, however, few artists of literary +attainments, and they are more profitably employed than in +authorship. Little apology was necessary, for of all literary men, +poets are best calculated to write on the Fine Arts: and the genius +of Poetry, Painting, Sculpture, and Music, is often associated in +one mind, in love of the subjects at least, if not in practice.</p> +<p>Prefixed to the "Lives," is a delightful chapter on British Art +before the birth of Hogarth, from which we quote the +following:—</p> +<p>"Poetry, Painting, Sculpture, and Music, are the natural +offspring of the heart of man. They are found among the most +barbarous nations; they flourish among the most civilized; and +springing from nature, and not from necessity or accident, they can +never be wholly lost in the most disastrous changes. In this they +differ from mere inventions; and, compared with mechanical +discoveries, are what a living tree is to a log of wood. It may +indeed be said that the tongue of poetry is occasionally silent, +and the hand of painting sometimes stayed; but this seems not to +affect the ever-living principle which I claim as their +characteristic. They are heard and seen again in their season, as +the birds and flowers are at the coming of spring; and assert their +title to such immortality as the things of earth may claim. It is +true that the poetry of barbarous nations is rude, and their +attempts at painting uncouth; yet even in these we may recognise +the foreshadowings of future excellence, and something of the +peculiar character which, in happier days, the genius of the same +tribe is to stamp upon worthier productions. The future Scott, or +Lawrence, or Chantrey, may be indicated afar-off in the barbarous +ballads, drawings, or carvings, of an early nation. Coarse nature +and crude simplicity are the commencement, as elevated nature and +elegant simplicity are the consummation of art.</p> +<p>"When the Spaniards invaded the palaces of Chili and Peru, they +found them filled with works of art. Cook found considerable beauty +of drawing and skill of workmanship in the ornamented weapons and +war-canoes of the islanders of the South Sea; and in the interior +recesses of India, sculptures and paintings, of no common merit, +are found in every village. In like manner, when Caesar landed +among the barbarians of Britain, he found them acquainted with arts +and arms; and his savage successors, the Saxons, added to +unextinguishable ferocity a love of splendour and a rude sense of +beauty, still visible in the churches which they built, and the +monuments which they erected to their princes and leaders. All +those works are of that kind called ornamental: the graces of true +art, the truth of action and the dignity of sentiment are wanting; +and they seem to have been produced by a sort of mechanical +process, similar to that which creates figures in arras. Art is, +indeed, of slow and gradual growth; like the <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page53" name="page53"></a>[pg 53]</span> oak, it +is long of growing to maturity and strength. Much knowledge of +colour, much skill of hand, much experience in human character, and +a deep sense of light and shade, have to be acquired, to enable the +pencil to embody the conceptions of genius. The artist has to seek +for all this in the accumulated mass of professional knowledge: +which time has gathered for his instruction, and with his best +wisdom, and his happiest fortune, he can only add a little more +information to the common stock, for the benefit of his successors. +In no country has Painting risen suddenly into eminence. While +Poetry takes wing at once, free and unincumbered, she is retarded +in her ascent by the very mechanism to which she must at last owe +at least half her glory. In Britain, Painting was centuries in +throwing off the fetters of mere mechanical skill, and in rising +into the region of genius. The original spirit of England had +appeared in many a noble poem, while the two sister arts were still +servilely employed in preserving incredible legends, in taking the +likeness of the last saint whom credulity had added to the +calendar, and in confounding the acts of the apostles in the +darkness of allegory."</p> +<p>Then follows an outline of early Art in England, in the +embellishment of cathedrals, &c.; among which is the following +notice of one of the earliest of our attempts at historical +portraiture which can be authenticated:—</p> +<p>"It is a Painting on Wood; the figures are less than life, and +represent Henry the Fifth and his relations. It measures four feet +six inches long, by four feet four inches high, and was in the days +of Catholic power the altarpiece of the church of Shene. An angel +stands in the centre, holding in his hands the expanding coverings +of two tents, out of which the king, with three princes, and the +queen, with four princesses, are proceeding to kneel at two altars, +where crosses, and sceptres, and books are lying. They wear long +and flowing robes, with loose hair, and have crowns on their heads. +In the background, St. George appears in the air, combating with +the dragon, while Cleodelinda kneels in prayer beside a lamb. It is +not, indeed, quite certain that this curious work was made during +the reign of Henry the Fifth, but there can be little doubt of its +being painted as early as that of his son."</p> +<p>In the next page we have the following character of an English +artist of about the same period:—</p> +<p>"He was at once architect, sculptor, carpenter, goldsmith, +armourer, jeweller, saddler, tailor, and painter. There is extant, +in Dugdale, a curious example of the character of the times, and a +scale by which we can measure the public admiration of art. It is a +contract between the Earl of Warwick and John Rag, citizen and +tailor, London, in which the latter undertakes to execute the +emblazonry of the earl's pageant in his situation of ambassador to +France. In the tailor's bill, gilded griffins mingle with Virgin +Marys; painted streamers for battle or procession, with the twelve +apostles; and 'one coat for his grace's body, lute with fine gold,' +takes precedence of St. George and the Dragon."</p> +<p>We wish some of the criticism in this chapter had been milder, +and a few of the invectives not so highly charged; some of them +even out-Herod the fury of an article on Painting, in a recent +number of the <i>Edinburgh Review</i>. But we must pass on to +pleasanter matters—as the following poetical +paragraphs:—</p> +<p>"The art of tapestry as well as the art of illuminating books, +aided in diffusing a love of painting over the island. It was +carried to a high degree of excellence. The earliest account of its +appearance in England is during the reign of Henry the Eighth, but +there is no reason to doubt that it was well known and in general +esteem much earlier. The traditional account, that we were +instructed in it by the Saracens, has probably some foundation. The +ladies encouraged this manufacture by working at it with their own +hands; and the rich aided by purchasing it in vast quantities +whenever regular practitioners appeared in the market. It found its +way into church and palace—chamber and hall. It served at +once to cover and adorn cold and comfortless walls. It added +warmth, and, when snow was on the hill and ice in the stream, gave +an air of social snugness which has deserted some of our modern +mansions.</p> +<p>"At first the figures and groups, which rendered this +manufacture popular, were copies of favourite paintings; but, as +taste improved and skill increased, they showed more of originality +in their conceptions, if not more of nature in their forms. They +exhibited, in common with all other works of art, the mixed taste +of the times—a grotesque union of classical and Hebrew +history—of martial life and pastoral repose—of Greek +gods and Romish saints. Absurd as such combinations certainly were, +and destitute of those beauties of form and delicate gradations and +harmony of colour which distinguish paintings worthily <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page54" name="page54"></a>[pg 54]</span> so +called—still when the hall was lighted up, and living faces +thronged the floor, the silent inhabitants of the walls would seem, +in the eyes of our ancestors, something very splendid. As painting +rose in fame, tapestry sunk in estimation. The introduction of a +lighter and less massive mode of architecture abridged the space +for its accommodation, and by degrees the stiff and fanciful +creations of the loom vanished from our walls. The art is now +neglected. I am sorry for this, because I cannot think meanly of an +art which engaged the heads and hands of the ladies of England, and +gave to the tapestried hall of elder days fame little inferior to +what now waits on a gallery of paintings."</p> +<p>Passing over Holbein, Sir Antonio Moore, Vandyke, Lely, Kneller, +and Thornhill, we come to the lives of +Hogarth—Wilson—Reynolds and Gainsborough—from +which we select a few characteristic anecdotes and sketches. In +noticing Hogarth's early life, Mr. Cunningham has thrown some +discredit on a book, which on its publication, made not a little +chat among artists:—</p> +<p>"Of those early days I find this brief notice in Smith's Life of +Nollekens the sculptor. 'I have several times heard Mr. Nollekens +observe, that he had frequently seen Hogarth, when a young man, +saunter round Leicester Fields with his master's sickly child +hanging its head over his shoulder.' It is more amusing to read +such a book than safe to quote it. Hogarth had ceased to have a +master for seventeen years, was married to Jane Thornhill, kept his +carriage, and was in the full blaze of his reputation, when +Nollekens was born."</p> +<p>Among Hogarth's early labours are his Illustrations of Hudibras, +published in 1726. These were seventeen plates; and we have lately +seen in the possession of Mr. Britton, the architect, eleven +original paintings illustrative of Butler's witty poem, and +attributed to Hogarth.</p> +<p>From the notices of Hogarth's portraits we select the +following:—</p> +<p>"Hogarth's Portrait of Henry Fielding, executed after death from +recollection, is remarkable as being the only likeness extant of +the prince of English novelists. It has various histories. +According to Murphy, Fielding had made many promises to sit to +Hogarth, for whose genius he had a high esteem, but died without +fulfilling them; a lady accidentally cut a profile with her +scissars, which recalled Fielding's face so completely to Hogarth's +memory, that he took up the outline, corrected and finished it and +made a capital likeness. The world is seldom satisfied with a +common account of any thing that interests it—more especially +as a marvellous one is easily manufactured. The following, then, is +the second history. Garrick, having dressed himself in a suit of +Fielding's clothes, presented himself unexpectedly before the +artist, mimicking the step, and assuming the look of their deceased +friend. Hogarth was much affected at first, but, on recovering, +took his pencil, and drew the portrait. For those who love a +soberer history, the third edition is ready. Mrs. Hogarth, when +questioned concerning it, said, that she remembered the affair +well; her husband began the picture—and finished it—one +evening in his own house, and sitting by her side.</p> +<p>"Captain Coram, the projector of the Foundling Hospital, sat for +his portrait to Hogarth, and it is one of the best he ever painted. +There is a natural dignity and great benevolence expressed in a +face which, in the original, was rough and forbidding. This worthy +man, having laid out his fortune and impaired his health in acts of +charity and mercy, was reduced to poverty in his old age. An +annuity of a hundred pounds was privately purchased, and when it +was presented to him, he said, 'I did not waste the wealth which I +possessed in self-indulgence or vain expense, and am not ashamed to +own that in my old age I am poor.'</p> +<p>"The last which I shall notice of this class of productions, is +the portrait of the celebrated demagogue John Wilkes. This singular +performance originated in a quarrel with that witty libertine, and +his associate Churchill the poet: it immediately followed an +article, from the pen of Wilkes, in the North Briton, which +insulted Hogarth as a man, and traduced him as an artist. It is so +little of a caricature, that Wilkes good humouredly observes +somewhere in his correspondence, 'I am growing every day more and +more like my portrait by Hogarth.' The terrible scourge of the +satirist fell bitterly upon the personal and moral deformities of +the man. Compared with his chastisement the hangman's whip is but a +proverb, and the pillory a post of honour. He might hope oblivion +from the infamy of both; but from Hogarth there was no escape. It +was little indeed that the artist had to do, to brand and emblazon +him with the vices of his nature—but with how much +discrimination that little is done! He took up the correct +portrait, which Walpole upbraids him with skulking into a court of +law to obtain, and in a few <span class="pagenum"><a id="page55" +name="page55"></a>[pg 55]</span> touches the man sank, and the +demon of hypocrisy and sensuality sat in his stead. It is a fiend, +and yet it is Wilkes still. It is said that when he had finished +this remarkable portrait, the former friendship of Wilkes overcame +him, and he threw it into the fire, from which it was saved by the +interposition of his wife."</p> +<p>All the criticisms on Hogarth's <i>moral</i> pictures have an +air of originality and freshness of mind, which is so attractive, +as to make us regret that we have not room for them. In proof of +this, only let the reader turn to Mr. Cunningham's remarks on the +Harlot and Rake's Progress, at pages 98 and 99. His descriptions +too of the satirical pictures are extremely ludicrous, and in +effect second only to painting itself. The following anecdote of +the celebrated <i>March to Finchley</i> is curious, though well +known:—</p> +<p>"The original painting was, on the publication of the print, +disposed of by a kind of lottery. Seven shillings and sixpence were +fixed as the price of a print; and every purchaser of a print was +entitled to a chance in the lottery for the picture. Eighteen +hundred and forty-three chances were subscribed for; a hundred and +sixty-seven tickets, which remained, were presented to the +Foundling Hospital. One of the Hospital's tickets drew the desired +prize; and on the same night Hogarth delivered the painting to the +governors, not a little pleased that it was to adorn a public +place."</p> +<p>After quoting Walpole's description of Hogarth's +<i>Sigismunda</i>, in which he says—</p> +<p>"To add to the disgust raised by such vulgar expression, her +fingers were blooded by her lover's heart, that lay before her like +that of a sheep for her dinner;—"</p> +<p>Mr. C. observes, "this is very severe, very pointed, and very +untrue. The Sigismunda of Hogarth is not tearing off her ornaments, +nor are her fingers bloodied by her lover's heart. It is said that +the picture resembled Mrs. Hogarth, who was a very handsome woman; +and to this circumstance Wilkes maliciously alludes in his +unprincipled attack on her husband. 'If the Sigismunda,' says this +polite patriot, 'had a resemblance of any thing ever seen on earth, +or had the least pretence to either meaning or expression, it was +what he had seen, or perhaps made—in real life—his own +wife in an agony of passion; but of what passion no connoisseur +could guess.' That Mrs. Hogarth sat for the picture of Sigismunda +seems to have been known to conscientious John, and this is +supported by that lady's conduct to Walpole. This noble biographer +sent her a copy of his Anecdotes, accompanied by a courtly and +soothing note; but she was so much offended by his description of +the Sigismunda, that she took no notice of his present. The widow +of the artist was poor—and an opinion so ill-natured—so +depreciating—and so untrue, injured the property which she +wished to sell: she loved too the memory of her husband, and +resented in the dignity of silence the malicious and injurious +attack. She considered the present as an insult offered when she +had no one to protect her. I love her pride and reverence her +affection."</p> +<p>Of Hogarth's house at Chiswick, we have the following slight +notice:—</p> +<p>"The time was now approaching when superstition, and folly, and +vice, were to be relieved from the satiric pencil which had awed +them so long—the health of Hogarth began to decline. He was +aware of this, and purchased a small house at Chiswick, to which he +retired during the summer, amusing himself with making slight +sketches and retouching his plates. This house stood till lately on +a very pretty spot; but the demon of building came into the +neighbourhood, choked up the garden, and destroyed the secluded +beauty of Hogarth's cottage. The garden, well stored with walnut, +mulberry, and apple trees, contained a small study, with a +head-stone, placed over a favourite bullfinch, on which the artist +had etched the bird's head and written an epitaph. The cottage +contained many snug rooms, and was but yesterday the residence of a +man of learning and genius, Mr. Cary, the translator of Dante. The +change of scene, the free fresh air, and exercise on horseback, had +for awhile a favourable influence on Hogarth's health; but he +complained that he was no longer able to think with the readiness, +and work with the elasticity of spirit, of his earlier years. The +friends of this artist observed, and lamented, this falling away; +his enemies hastened to congratulate Churchill and Wilkes on the +success of their malevolence; and these men were capable of +rejoicing in the belief that the work of nature was their own."</p> +<p>We are glad to see Mr. Cunningham throwing light on false +conclusions drawn from the eccentricities of genius, as in this +little anecdote:—</p> +<p>"With Dr. Hoadley, who corrected the manuscript of the Analysis +of Beauty for the press, Hogarth was on such <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page56" name="page56"></a>[pg 56]</span> friendly +terms that he was admitted into one of the private theatrical +exhibitions which the doctor loved, and was appointed to perform +along with Garrick and his entertainer, a parody on that scene in +Julius Caesar where the ghost appears to Brutus. Hogarth personated +the spectre, but so unretentive—(we are told)—was his +memory that though the speech consisted only of two lines he was +unable to get them by heart, and his facetious associates wrote +them on an illuminated lantern that he might read them when he came +upon the stage. Such is the way in which anecdotes are +manufactured, and conclusions of absence or imbecility drawn. The +speech of the ghost written on the paper lantern formed part of the +humour of the burlesque. Men, dull in comprehending the +eccentricities of genius, set down what passes their own +understanding to the account of the other's stupidity."</p> +<p>Here our notice of the Life of Hogarth would end, did we not +feel inclined to venture a word or two respecting the omission of +Hogarth's <i>Tailpiece</i>, engraved in Ireland's "Life," and there +described as his last work. With the superstitious tale attached to +it almost every one is familiar; yet some notice ought surely to +have been taken of the story, even had it only been to expose its +falsehood and absurdity.</p> +<p>We find that we have proceeded but half through the volume, so +that Wilson, Reynolds, and Gainsborough must remain for another +number.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY.</h2> +<hr /> +<h3><i>Microscopic Objects.</i></h3> +<p>The most delicate test objects for microscopes are the lines on +the feathers of butterflies or moths' wings, of which there are +many gradations; some easily demonstrated, and others only to be +seen with the most powerful reflectors, and to the best advantage +by the simple and uncondensed light of the lamp. The hair of a +mouse is a very good test object: it is best seen by daylight; the +most difficult parts of which are longitudinal lines in the +transparent part of the hair, which require high powers. The hair +of the bat and seal are also fine tests. The lines on the scales of +the diamond beetle, &c. are excellent opaque proof objects. The +feet of flies are likewise very interesting.</p> +<hr /> +<h3><i>New Lilac Dyes.</i></h3> +<p>Dr. Macculloch has lately produced two fine lilac dyes from +plants of domestic growth, not hitherto applied to this purpose. +One is from the berry of the Portugal laurel, and the other the +black currant. The simplest process with alum is all that is +required for either; and as far as his trials go, the best tint is +produced by the former fruit.</p> +<hr /> +<h3><i>Dirty Windows.</i></h3> +<p>We have frequently remarked small radiant and arborescent +crystallizations on dirty windows in London, and have found them to +consist of <i>sulphate of ammonia</i>. This salt, or at least, +sulphite of ammonia (which becomes sulphate by exposure to air), is +an abundant product of the combustion of coal.</p> +<p><i>Brande's Journal.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3><i>Indigo.</i></h3> +<p>This valuable plant, which gives rise to as great speculation in +India, as hops in England, is much injured by wet weather; although +the rapidity of the growth of plants during much rain, in the +temperature of the tropics, is extraordinary, yet a proportional +deficiency in all that characterizes the vegetable world +necessarily follows. This we find to be the case with all forced +vegetables; and the mildness of the radish of hastened growth, when +contrasted with the highly pungent and almost acrid flavour of the +slowly and gradually advanced one, may be adduced as explanatory of +this observation. Hence, it is practically well known to +manufacturers, that the indigo plant, however fine and luxuriant, +as is the natural result of much rain, is very deficient <i>in +produce</i>, and a similar loss is experienced even if the plant, +without the fall of too much rain, has grown up under cloudy +weather. Sunshine, much and continued sunshine, is essentially +necessary for the proper exercise of those secretory organs by +which this peculiar drug is formed and perfected.</p> +<p>Indigo leaves produce two dyes—blue and yellow; but the +refuse leaves, when boiled for an hour and a half, will render the +water yellow, tinged with green. This water, kept boiling for two +hours, (supplying the loss by evaporation), will, when filtered, +afford a precipitate, which, when dried, will in colour be a +dun-slate, and in quantity perhaps about equal to the blue extract +such leaves have produced. This observation, as it can lead to no +practical advantage, is made for the man of science, rather than +the man of business.—<i>Mr. C. Weston</i>—<i>in +Brande's Journal.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3><i>Chain Bridge.</i></h3> +<p>Mr. Disney has lately erected at his seat the Hyde, Ingatestone, +Essex, a <span class="pagenum"><a id="page57" name="page57"></a>[pg +57]</span> suspension bridge of common chain, which is much cheaper +than either wood or brick. It is fifty feet long, and four feet +wide. The whole cost of material, and workmanship scarcely exceeded +30<i>l</i>. Upon a rough estimate, a wooden bridge of the same span +would have cost from 80<i>l</i>. to 100<i>l</i>., and a high arch +probably from 150<i>l</i>. to 200<i>l</i>. The piers or posts +supporting the chains are of oak, but should they in ten or fifteen +years decay, 10<i>l</i>. in money, and three days in time would set +it up again.—<i>Brande's Jour.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3><i>Stone Roofs.</i></h3> +<p>The Romans employed <i>pumice</i> in building their arched +incombustible roofs. This porous material possessed the additional +advantage, when combined with good cement, of rendering the arched +surface one united petrifaction, opposing (in consequence of its +firm union) little lateral pressure, comparatively, against the +sustaining walls.</p> +<p>Bonomi, the architect, suggests that the principal cause of the +destructiveness of fires in large buildings, is the want of arched +surfaces of incombustible materials. This has been disastrously +exemplified in the destruction of the choir of York Minster, where +the roof of the aisles, which are solidly arched with stone, +suffered no injury; while the choir-roof, although much more raised +above the action of the fire, has been entirely destroyed by +it.</p> +<hr /> +<h3><i>Fossil Saurians.</i></h3> +<p>Several beautiful specimens of fossil saurians, or animals of +the lizard tribe, have, as our scientific readers are aware, been +found at Lyme, in Dorsetshire; but the world would to this day have +remained ignorant of the treasures England possessed, but for the +patient labours of three female pioneers in this service, viz. +<i>Mary Anning</i>, a dealer; <i>Miss Congrieve</i>, and <i>Miss +Philpots</i>, residents, who for years had been collecting and +preserving these bodies from the wreck of the coast; the two last +without any other view than the gratification of a laudable +curiosity, and who, with unequalled liberality, communicated their +collections to every man of science that visited the place; and it +is to liberal minds like theirs, and Miss Bennet's, of Wiltshire +that we owe the first rescuing of these natural gems from the +spoilers. We copy this from a communication of Mr. Cumberland to +Brande's Journal, and are truly pleased to record such amiable +examples of female excellence in scientific pursuits. At Dover, +Portsmouth, and other places we could name, we obtained the best +information respecting the fossils of the coast, from females +resident there, and we need not add that this circumstance imparted +additional interest to our inquiries.</p> +<hr /> +<h3><i>The Zoological Society.</i></h3> +<p>We copy the following from the Report to the Zoological Society, +just published:</p> +<p>"In the Museum in Bruton-street various improvements have taken +place. Additional cases have been erected, wherever space could be +obtained, for the exhibition of the different collections; and two +persons have been in constant employment in preparing and setting +up the more interesting specimens. An assistant has also been +lately added, for the arrangement of the shells, insects, and the +other smaller subjects of the collection; and much care has been +bestowed upon the various departments of comparative anatomy. An +instructive as well as an attractive series in every branch of +zoology, but more particularly in the groups of mammalia, birds, +and insects, has thus been arranged for inspection. A catalogue of +the more important objects in the Museum has been published; and a +more detailed list, accompanied with scientific notices of all the +species, is in preparation.</p> +<p>"The increase in the number of subjects in the collection during +the last year has been considerable, and many of the additions have +been of the utmost importance to science. The whole of these, with +a few exceptions, have been presented by the friends of the +society. A detailed list of these donations which are too numerous +for insertion in this report, is laid upon the table; a reference +to the contents of which will evince that the spirit of liberality, +which laid the foundations of this already valuable collection, has +not decreased.</p> +<p>"A very extensive correspondence has been established with +naturalists of foreign countries, and persons resident in distant +parts, who are anxious to promote the objects of the Society. +Through these channels many valuable acquisitions have been already +received; and it is expected that much of novelty and interest will +continually pour in to increase the attractions of the Museum and +Menagerie.</p> +<p>"The Garden in the Regent's Park is the principal source of +attraction and of expense. The nature of the soil, which consists +of a thick ungrateful clay, increases the cost of every work. The +health of the animals requires that oak <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page58" name="page58"></a>[pg 58]</span> floors be +raised above the surface of the ground; and it is necessary to lay +a thick substratum of dry material under every inclosure and every +walk. These disadvantages are however amply counterbalanced by its +immediate vicinity to the town. The Council have, notwithstanding +the nature of the soil, endeavoured to give to the garden all the +attractions which good cultivation and an abundance of flowers can +afford: and they have to return their thanks for the very liberal +supplies for this purpose which they have occasionally received +from the Horticultural Society. The resort to the garden has far +surpassed the most sanguine expectations of the Council; 112,226 +persons have visited it during the last year."</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THE NOVELIST</h2> +<hr /> +<h3>THE SIEGE OF ABYDOS.</h3> +<h3><i>A Romantic Tale.</i></h3> +<h4>(<i>For the Mirror.</i>)</h4> +<p>The infidel Turks, ever at variance with the Christians, were, +in the reign of king Orchanes, extremely ambitious to possess the +famous Castle of Abydos; and accordingly vast preparations were +made for a close siege. Previous to the arrival of the Turkish army +before the castle, the angelic Sophronia, daughter of the governor +of Abydos, was visited by a dream. She thought, that while walking +out on a beautiful evening, breathing the fragrant air, and gazing +on the brilliant stars, she fell into a loathsome ditch, in which +she remained an hour, terrified, and unable to move. At length, a +handsome youth passed, and she implored him to rescue her. She did +not implore in vain; the young man assisted her out, cleaned her +clothes, and comforted her with pleasant words. They then proceeded +to a delightful bower, put on costly attire, and the youth regaled +the rescued lady with delicious fruits, and sang sonnets on her +personal beauty. Sophronia awoke, sad and disappointed, to find +that her late bliss was only a dream. In a day or two afterwards, +the Turkish army appeared, and a vigorous siege commenced; +nevertheless, the Christians stoutly defended the place, and would, +ultimately, have obliged the enemy to retire, had no intervention +taken place. It happened, unfortunately for the garrison, that a +gallant Turkish captain, in the prime of youth, called Abdurachman +approached so near to the castle gates, as to be plainly observed +by the fair Sophronia, from a small turret window, out of which she +had viewed the besiegers. The lady imagined this captain to be the +person to whom she was so much obliged in her dream, and rejoiced +at the supposed discovery; she hoped that the assailants would be +successful in taking her father's castle that she might have an +opportunity of falling into the hands of the gallant captain she so +greatly admired. The siege still raged with much fury, but was +continually repulsed by the brave Christians, insomuch that the +Turkish general became disconcerted, and in the evening of the +third day after the commencement of the siege, retired to his camp, +about a league distant from the scene of action. Sophronia, +meanwhile, was agitated at the ill success of the Turks, though she +did not despair of seeing the captain again.</p> +<p>She made a confidante of her maid Annis, who undertook, daring +as the attempt was, to steal from the castle to the enemy's camp, +in order to convey a letter from her mistress to Abdurachman. The +intrepid Annis commenced her task in the night: she avoided passing +the sentinels and wardens of the castle, but found her way to a +postern gate, scarcely known to any but herself. She arrived at +Abdurachman's tent; the captain was conversing with his friends +about what the general intended to do on the morrow. Annis desired +to speak with him in private, to which he consented. She then +delivered the letter, which was bound with a lock of the fair +writer's hair, and the astonished Abdurachman perused the +following:—</p> +<p>"Adored Youth,</p> +<p>"I am passionately in love with you, and am sorry that you have +been frustrated in your endeavours to take the castle. As I adore +you beyond measure, and shall certainly take poison if you do not +succeed; I engage to deliver Abydos with all its riches into your +hands, provided you follow my instructions. I advise, that in the +morning by sunrise, you raise the siege and withdraw your whole +army from the castle, and return not again till you hear from +<i>me</i>. My father will be so rejoiced at your departure, that he +will be off his guard, and then I can easily conduct you with +secrecy into the castle."</p> +<p>The delighted Turk very politely answered this remarkable +<i>billet doux</i>, assuring <span class="pagenum"><a id="page59" +name="page59"></a>[pg 59]</span> the fair writer that he was at her +service, and that he would implicitly follow her directions as to +the taking of Abydos. As soon as he had dismissed Annis, he flew +with Sophronia's letter to the general, who, upon reading it, +expressed great astonishment; he determined to raise the siege the +next morning, and resolved to rely fully on the beautiful traitress +for the future success of his enterprise. The next day came, and +the general raised the siege and departed. The Christians were +rejoiced to see it, and in the evening made merry and drunk wine. +The governor's daughter took advantage of the garrison at this +unguarded moment; and fearing to trust again to the sincerity of +her maid, resolved to proceed herself to Abdurachman's tent. Annis +led the way. The night was serene, and the light of the moon showed +the stately castle of Abydos, dark and majestic. No noise was +heard, save the heavy and uniform step of the sentinels, whose +bright arms, as they caught the moon's rays, sparkled against the +gloomy looking building. Little did the inmates, now as tranquil as +the night, dream of being surprised by an enemy; and little did the +brave governor imagine that his own beloved daughter, at this +moment, was treacherously hastening to a merciless foe, with the +intent to conduct him to Abydos! Sophronia reached her lover's tent +weary and faint, for she had walked with great haste. She sank into +the captain's arms, and then, almost inaudibly, informed him that +not a moment was to be lost, and that he must follow her +immediately to the castle.</p> +<p>He obeyed, and having formed a litter for the lady, she was +borne on the shoulders of four stout Turks. When they arrived at +the postern gate, Sophronia told the captain that he, with his men, +must first enter the castle, and then kill the sentinels and +wardens, after which he would be enabled to give admittance to all +his friends. The Turks strictly obeyed the lady, who before the +affair began hastened with Annis to her apartment in order to await +the issue of her plot. The Turks entered the castle by hundreds, +killing all they met, and were soon masters of the place. +Meanwhile, Sophronia and Annis, both dreadfully agitated, heard +from their chamber the dying groans of the poor Christians. +Sometimes the clashing of swords was distinguished, as if a number +of persons were engaged in combat; sometimes the loud lamentations +of women intervened; and sometimes the voices of the conquerors +were alone heard in exultation. At length the door of Sophronia's +room burst open, and Abdurachman rushed in to seize her, while +Annis, nearly dead with terror, calmly submitted to the grasp of a +common soldier who accompanied the captain.</p> +<p>The dreadful scene was acted and over; the Turks were possessors +of the famed castle of Abydos, and Sophronia's father, the +governor, was hanged. Alas! deluded Sophronia! The faithless +Abdurachman, whom she supposed to have seen in a dream, regarded +her not; even lots were cast for her, and she fell to the share of +one whom she did not know. The beautiful Sophronia took poison and +expired.</p> +<p>G.W.N.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.</h2> +<hr /> +<h3>THE LIBERTINE'S CONFESSION.</h3> +<h4><i>In Imitation of the Writers of the Sixteenth +Century.</i></h4> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>I'm sad and sore afraid,</p> +<p class="i2">That fickle, and forsworn,</p> +<p>I've sported life away,</p> +<p class="i2">And now am left forlorn.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Poor fool! I dreamt the years</p> +<p class="i2">Of youth would never fly,</p> +<p>And pleasure's brimming bowl</p> +<p class="i2">Methought could ne'er run dry.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>That woman's bounteous love</p> +<p class="i2">Should e'er wax cold for me!</p> +<p>It seem'd that she must first</p> +<p class="i2">A woman cease to be.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Her fondest smiles I thought</p> +<p class="i2">My rights by charter were;</p> +<p>Her sighs, her tears, forsooth,—</p> +<p class="i2">Whilst I—was free as air.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>I've knelt at many a shrine,</p> +<p class="i2">Of wit and beauty too;</p> +<p>I've lisp'd light vows to all,</p> +<p class="i2">And sworn that all were true.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>My pastime was to gain</p> +<p class="i2">Their young and grateful love,</p> +<p>Then break the heart I won,</p> +<p class="i2">And straight to others rove.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Ah! wild wit, now at last</p> +<p class="i2">Thy vagrancies are o'er;</p> +<p>The ear and gazing eye</p> +<p class="i2">That you enthrall'd before.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>No longer hear or see;</p> +<p class="i2">Whilst those you now would woo,</p> +<p>The time-worn truant slight,</p> +<p class="i2">Nor dream of love with you.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><span style="margin-left:3em"><i>New Monthly +Magazine.</i></span></p> +</div> +</div> +<hr /> +<p>Dublin is a great city. Dublin, as the late Lord +L——th used to say, is "one of the tay-drinkenest, +say-bathinest, car-drivinest places in the world; it flogs for +<i>divarsion.</i>"</p> +<hr /> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page60" name="page60"></a>[pg +60]</span> +<h3>THE TOYMAN IS ABROAD.</h3> +<h4>(<i>Concluded from page 46.</i>)</h4> +<p>There is a point at which the inconvenience of superfluities so +far exceeds their utility, that luxury becomes converted into a +perfect bore. What, for instance, but an annoyance, would be the +most splendid feast, to a man whose stomach is already overladen +with food? Human ingenuity may effect much; and the Romans, by +means of emetics, met this emergency with considerable skill; but +on a more enlarged experience of general history, it must be +conceded, that it is quite impossible to add one more superfluous +meal to those already established by general usage. So also in +matters of dress, ladies' hats must not be larger than the actual +doorways of the country will admit—not at least until time is +allowed for a corresponding increase in our architectural +proportions. With respect to personal ornaments also, ear-rings +must not be so weighty as to tear the lobes of the ears; nor should +a bracelet prevent, by its size, the motions of the arm. "Barbaric +pomp and gold" is a fine thing; but a medallion, as heavy and as +cumbrous as a shield, appended to a lady's bosom, would be any +thing but a luxury. So, in the other extreme, a watch should not be +so small as to render the dial-plate illegible; nor should a shoe +be so tight as to lame its wearer for life. Beauty, it has been +said, should learn to suffer; and there are, I am aware, resources +in vanity, that will reconcile man, and woman too, to martyrdom; +but these resources should not be exhausted wantonly; and in +pleasure, as in economy, there is no benefit in lighting the candle +at both ends. The true philosopher extracts the greatest good out +of every thing; and fools only, as Horace has it, run into one vice +in trying to avoid another. Let not the reader, from these remarks, +suppose that their author is a morose censurer of the times; or +that the least sneer is intended against that idol of all orthodoxy +"things as they are." As a general proposition, nothing can be more +true, than that whatever is established, even in the world of +fashion, is, for the time being, wisest, discreetest, best; and, +woe betide the man that flies too directly in its face.</p> +<p>There is, however, one point upon which I own myself a little +sore; and in which, I do think, superfluities are carried to a +somewhat vicious excess. The point to which I allude, and I beg the +patience of the reader, is the vast increase of superfluities, +which of late years have become primary necessaries in the +appointment of a well-furnished house. Here, indeed, is a +revolution; a revolution more formidable than the French and the +American emancipation put together. We all remember the time when +one tea-table, two or three card-tables, a pier glass, a small +detachment of chairs, with two armed corporals to command them, on +either side the fire-place, with a square piece of carpet in the +centre of the floor, made a very decent display in the drawing, or +(as it was then preposterously called) the dining-room. As yet, +rugs for the hearth were not; and twice a day did Betty go upon her +knees to scour the marble and uncovered slab. In the bedrooms of +those days, a narrow slip of carpet round the bed was the maximum +of woollen integument allowed for protecting the feet of the +midnight wanderer from his couch; and, in the staircases of the +fairest mansions, a like slip meandered down the centre of the +flight of steps. At that time, curtains rose and fell in a line +parallel to the horizon, after the simple plan of the green +siparium of our theatres; and, being strictly confined to the +windows, they never dreamed of displaying themselves in front of a +door. No golden serpents then twisted their voluminous folds across +the entire breadth of the room; nor did richly-carved cods' heads +and shoulders, under the denomination of dolphins, or glittering +spread eagles, with a brass ring in their mouths, support fenestral +draperies, which rival the display of a Waterloo-house +calico-vender. Thus far, I admit, the change is an improvement. +Nay, I could away with ladders to go to bed withal, though many a +time and oft they have broken my shins. I would not either object +to sofas and ottomans, in any reasonable proportion; but protest I +must, and in the strongest terms too, against such a multiplication +and variety of easy chairs, as effectually exclude the possibility +of easy sitting; and against the overweening increase of +spider-tables, that interferes with rectilinear progression. An +harp mounted on a sounding-board, which is a stumbling-block to the +feet of the short-sighted, is, I concede, an absolute necessity; +and a piano-forte, like a coffin, should occupy the centre even of +the smallest given drawing-room—"the court awards it, and the +law doth give it,"—but why multiply footstools, till there is +no taking a single step in safety? An Indian cabinet also, or a +buhl armoire, are, either, or both of them, very fit and becoming; +but it cannot be right to make a broker's <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page61" name="page61"></a>[pg 61]</span> shop of +your best apartment. An ink-stand, as large as a show twelfth-cake, +is just and lawful; ditto, an ornamental escrutoire; and a +<i>nécessaire</i> for the work-table is, if there be meaning +in language, perfectly necessary. These, with an adequate +contingent of musical snuff-boxes, <i>or molu</i> clocks, China +figures, alabaster vases and flower-pots, together with a discreet +superfluity of cut-paper nondescripts, albums, screens, toys, +prints, caricatures, duodecimo classics, new novels and souvenirs, +to cut a dash, and litter the tables, must be allowed to the taste +and refinement of the times. But surely some space should be left +for depositing a coffee-cup, or laying down a useful volume, when +the hand may require to be relieved from its weight, or when it is +proper to take a pinch of snuff, or agreeable to wipe one's +forehead. Josses, beakers, and Sevres' vases have unquestionably +the <i>entrée</i> into a genteel apartment; but they are not +entitled to a monopoly of the <i>locale</i>; nor are Roman +antiquities, or statues even by Canova, justifiable in usurping the +elbow-room of living men and women. Most unfortunately for myself, +I have a very small house, and a wife of the most enlarged taste; +and the disproportion between these blessings is so great, that I +cannot move without the risk of a heavy pecuniary loss by breakage, +and a heavier personal affliction in perpetual imputations of +awkwardness. Then, again, it is no easy matter to put on a smiling +and indifferent countenance, whenever a friend, accustomed to some +latitude of motion, runs, as is often the case, his devastating +chair against a high-priced work of art, or overturns a table laden +with an "infinite thing" in costly <i>bijouterie</i>. I have long +made it a rule to exclude from my visiting-list, or at least not to +let up stairs, ladies who pay their morning calls with a retinue of +children: but the thing is not always possible; and one urchin with +his whip will destroy more in half an hour, than the worth of a +month's average domestic expenditure. Oh! how I hate the little +fidgeting, fingering, dislocating imps! A bull in a china-shop is +innocuous to the most orderly and amenable of them. Why did +Providence make children? and why does not some wise Draconic law +banish them for ever to the nursery?</p> +<p>The general merit of nick-nacks is unquestioned. Ornaments, I +admit, are ornamental; and works of art afford intellectual +amusement of the highest order. But then perfection is their only +merit; and a crack or a flaw destroys all the pleasure of a +sensible beholder. Yet I have not a statue that is not a torso, nor +a Chelsea china shepherdess with her full complement of fingers. I +have not a vase with both its handles, a snuff-box that performs +its waltz correctly, nor a volume of prints that is not dogs-eared, +stained, and ink-spotted. These are serious evils; but they are the +least that flow from a neglect of the maxim which stands at the +head of my paper. Perpend it well, reader; and bear ever in mind +that, in our desires, as in our corporeal structure, it is not +given to man to add a cubit to his stature. I am very tired; so +"dismiss me—enough." <i>New Monthly Magazine.</i></p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>NOTES OF A READER.</h2> +<hr /> +<h3>THE QUARTERLY REVIEW.</h3> +<p>No. 81, of this truly excellent work had not reached us in time +for the close reading which it demands, and our "Notes" from it at +present are consequently few. The first in the number is a powerful +paper on Dr. Southey's <i>Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects +of Society</i>—"a beautiful book," says the reviewer, "full +of wisdom and devotion—of poetry and feeling; conceived +altogether in the spirit of other times, such as the wise men of +our own day may scoff at, but such as Evelyn, or Isaak Walton, or +Herbert would have delighted to honour." The work is in general too +polemical and political for our pages; but we may hereafter be +tempted to carve out a few pastoral pictures of the delightful +country round Keswick, where Dr. Southey resides. The present +Review contains but few extracts to our purpose, and is rather a +paper on the spirit of the <i>Colloquies</i>, than analytical of +their merits. We take, for example, the following admirable passage +on the progress of religious indifference; in which we break off +somewhat hastily, premising that the reader will be induced to turn +to the Review itself for the remainder of the article:—</p> +<p>There was a time, since the worship of images, (and happy would +it have been if the religious habits of the country had thenceforth +stood fixed,) when appropriate texts adorned the walls of the +dwelling-rooms, and children received at night a father's +blessing;—and "let us worship God" was said with solemn air, +by the head of the household; and churches were resorted to daily; +and "the parson in journey" gave notice for prayers in the hall of +the inn—"for <span class="pagenum"><a id="page62" name= +"page62"></a>[pg 62]</span> prayers and provender," quoth he, +"hinder no man;" and the cheerful angler, as he sat under the +willow-tree, watching his quill, trolled out a Christian catch. +"Here we may sit and pray, before death stops our breath;" and the +merchant (like the excellent Sutton, of the Charter House) thought +how he could make his merchandize subservient to the good of his +fellow-citizens and the glory of his God, and accordingly endowed +some charitable, and learned, and religious foundation, worthy of +the munificence of a crowned head; and the grave historian (Lord +Clarendon himself does so) chose a text in his Bible as a motto for +his chapter on politics; and religion, in short, reached unto every +place, and, like Elisha stretched on the dead child, (to use one of +Jeremy Taylor's characteristic illustrations), gave life and +animation to every part of the body politic. But years rolled on; +and the original impulse given at the Reformation, and augmented at +the Rebellion, to undervalue all outward forms, has silently +continued to prevail, till, with the form of godliness, (much of +it, up doubt, objectionable, but much of it wholesome), the power +in a considerable degree expired too.</p> +<p>Accordingly, our churches are now closed in the week-days, for +we are too busy to repair to them; our politicians crying out, with +Pharaoh, "Ye are idle, ye are idle; therefore would ye go and do +sacrifice to the Lord." Our cathedrals, it is true, are still open; +but where are the worshippers? Instead of entering in, the citizen +avails himself of the excellent clock which is usually attached to +them, sets his watch, and hastens upon 'Change, where the +congregation is numerous and punctual, and where the theological +speculations are apt to run in Shylock's vein pretty exclusively. +If a church will answer, then, indeed, a joint-stock company +springs up; and a church is raised with as much alacrity, and upon +the same principles, as a play-house. The day when the people +brought their gifts is gone by. The "<i>solid temples</i>," that +heretofore were built as if not to be dissolved till doomsday, have +been succeeded by thin emaciated structures, bloated out by coats +of flatulent plaster, and supported upon cast-metal pegs, which the +courtesy of the times calls pillars of the church. The painted +windows, that admitted a dim religious light, have given place to +the cheap house-pane and dapper green curtain. The front, with its +florid reliefs and capacious crater, has dwindled into a miserable +basin.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>AN ARTIST'S FAME.</h3> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><i>Painter.</i> Let none call happy one whose art's deep +source</p> +<p>They know not—or what thorny paths he trode</p> +<p>To reach its dazzling goal!</p> +<p><i>Marquis.</i> <span style="margin-left:5em">What dost thou +mean?</span></p> +<p><i>Painter.</i> I'll seek a simile—Some gorgeous cloud</p> +<p>Oft towers in wondrous majesty before ye—</p> +<p>It bathes its bosom in pure ether's flood,</p> +<p>Evening twines crowns of roses for its head,</p> +<p>And for its mantle weaves a fringe of gold;</p> +<p>Ye gaze on it admiring and enchanted—</p> +<p>Yet know not whence its airy structure rose!</p> +<p>If it breathe incense from some holy altar,</p> +<p>Or earth-born vapours from the teeming soil,</p> +<p>When rain from Heav'n descends—if fiery breath</p> +<p>Of battle, or the darkly rolling smoke</p> +<p>Of conflagration, thus its giant towers</p> +<p>Pile on the sky—ye care not, but enjoy</p> +<p>Its form and glory,—Thus it is with art!</p> +<p>Whether 'twere born amid the sunny depths</p> +<p>Of a glad heart entranced in mutual love—</p> +<p>Or, likelier far, alas! the sorrowing child</p> +<p>Of restless anguish, and baptized in tears—</p> +<p>Or wrung from Genius even amid the throes</p> +<p>Of worse than death—Ye gaze and ye admire,</p> +<p>Nor pause to ask what it hath cost the heart</p> +<p>That gave it being!</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><span style="margin-left:3em"><i>Blackwood's +Magazine.</i></span></p> +</div> +</div> +<hr /> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Romance is ever readier</p> +<p>To make unbidden sacrifice, than rear</p> +<p>The sober edifice of mutual bliss! <span style= +"margin-left:3em"><i>Ibid.</i></span></p> +</div> +</div> +<hr /> +<h3>TRUE PATRIOTISM.</h3> +<p>Promote religion—protect public morals—repress vice +and infidelity—keep the different classes of the community in +strict subordination to each other—and cherish the +principles, feelings, and habits, which give stability, beauty, and +happiness to society.</p> +<p>Descend from the clouds of political economy, and travel in +safety on your mother earth; cast away the blinding spectacles of +the philosophers, and use the eyes you have received from nature. +Practise the vulgar principles, that it is erroneous to ruin +immense good markets, to gain petty bad ones—that you cannot +carry on losing trade—that you cannot live without +profit—and that you cannot eat without income. And pule no +more about individual economy, but eat, and drink, and enjoy +yourselves, like your fathers. What! in these days of free trade, +to tell the hypochondriacal Englishman that the foaming tankard, +the honest bottle of port, and the savoury sirloin, must be +prohibited articles! You surely wish us to hang and drown ourselves +by wholesale.—<i>Ibid.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3>THE FORGET-ME-NOT.</h3> +<p>The following account of the origin of the name "Forget-me-not," +is extracted from Mill's <i>History of Chivalry</i>, and was +communicated to that work by Dr. A.T. Thomson:—"Two lovers +were loitering on the margin of a lake on a fine <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page63" name="page63"></a>[pg 63]</span> summer's +evening, when the maiden espied some of the flowers of +Myosòtis growing on the water, close to the bank of an +island, at some distance from the shore. She expressed a desire to +possess them, when the knight, in the true spirit of chivalry, +plunged into the water, and swimming to the spot, cropped the +wished for plant, but his strength was unable to fulfill the object +of his achievement, and feeling that he could not regain the shore, +although very near it, he threw the flowers upon the bank, and +casting a last affectionate look upon his lady-love, he cried +'Forget me not!' and was buried in the waters."—<i>Gardener's +Magazine.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3>HOME.</h3> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><i>Leonhard.</i> See here what spacious halls: how all +around</p> +<p>Us breathes magnificence!</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><i>Spinarosa.</i> <span style="margin-left:5em">A princely +pile!</span></p> +<p>But ah! how nobler far its daring site!</p> +<p>It rears its tow'rs amid these rocks and glaciers,</p> +<p>As if proud man were in his might resolved</p> +<p>To add <i>his</i> rock to those that spurn the vale.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><i>Leon.</i> All here is beautiful! but 'tis not home!</p> +<p>'Tis true I was a child scarce eight years old</p> +<p>When led by Pietro into Italy—</p> +<p>Yet are my home's green lineaments as fresh</p> +<p>As when first painted on my infant soul;</p> +<p>This castle bears them not.—My home lay hid</p> +<p>In the deep bosom of gigantic oaks,</p> +<p>That o'er its roof their guardian shadows flung.</p> +<p>Nor towers, nor gates, nor pinnacles, were there;</p> +<p>With lowly thatch and humble wicket graced,</p> +<p>Smiling, yet solitary, did it stand.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><span style="margin-left:3em"><i>Blackwood's +Magazine</i>.</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<hr /> +<h3>IRISH SONGS.</h3> +<p>It is impossible to conceive any trash more despicable than the +slang songs which are current amongst the common people in Ireland; +and this is the more to be lamented, as the extreme susceptibility +of the people makes them liable to be easily moved to either good +or evil by their songs. Even the native Irish songs, as we are +informed in Miss Brooke's <i>Reliques of Irish Poetry</i>, are +sadly interpolated with nonsensical passages, which have been +introduced to supply the place of lost or forgotten lines; and of +humorous lyrical poetry, she says there was none in the language +worth translating. Moore has given to the beautiful airs of Ireland +beautiful words; but Moore is a poet for ladies and gentlemen, not +for mankind. It may be, that there are not materials in Ireland, +for a kindred spirit to that of Burns to work upon; but the fact is +but too true, that the <i>poor</i> Irishman has no song of even +decent ability, to cheer his hours of merriment, or soothe the +period of his sadness. Honour and undying praise be upon the memory +of Burns, who has left to us those songs which, like the breath of +nature, from whose fresh inspiration they were caught, are alike +refreshing to the monarch and the clown!—<i>Ibid.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3>A REAL MIRACLE.</h3> +<p>The <i>fable</i> of Dr. Southey's <i>Pilgrim of Compostella</i>, +is as follows:—</p> +<p>A family set forth from Aquitaine to visit the shrine of St. +James, at Compostella, whither, according to the Catholic faith, +the decapitated body of that saint was conveyed from Palestine, +(miraculously of course,) in a ship of marble. At a certain small +town by the way, their son Pierre is tempted by the innkeeper's +daughter. Like a second Joseph, he resists the immodest damsel; +like Potiphar's wife, she converts her love to hate, and accuses +the virtuous youth of a capital crime. Her false oaths prevail, and +he is condemned to the gallows. Rejoicing in his martyred +innocence, he exhorts his parents to pursue their pilgrimage, and +pray for the peace of his soul. Sorrowing, they proceed, and +returning, find their son hanging by the neck alive, and singing +psalms—in no actual pain—but naturally desirous to be +freed from his extraordinary state of suspended animation. They +repair to the chief magistrate of the town, by whose authority the +youth was executed—find his worship at dinner—relate +the wonderful preservation of their son—and request that he +may be restored. The magistrate is incredulous, and declares that +he would sooner believe that the fowls on which he was dining would +rise again in full feather. The miracle is performed. The cock and +hen spring from the ocean of their own gravy, clacking and crowing, +with all appurtenances of spur, comb, and feather. Pierre, of +course, is liberated, and declared innocent. The cock and hen +become objects of veneration—live in a state of +chastity—and are finally translated—leaving just two +eggs, from which arise another immaculate cock and hen. The breed +is perhaps still in existence, and time hath been, that a lucrative +trade was carried on in their feathers!!!—<i>Ibid.</i>.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THE GATHERER.</h2> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>A snapper up of unconsidered trifles.</p> +<p>SHAKSPEARE.</p> +</div> +</div> +<hr /> +<p>Of Hogarth's first attempt at satire, the following story is +related by Nichols, who had it from one of Hogarth's fellow +workmen. "One summer Sunday, during his apprenticeship, he went +with <span class="pagenum"><a id="page64" name="page64"></a>[pg +64]</span> three companions to Highgate, and the weather being warm +and the way dusty, they went into a public house, and called for +ale. There happened to be other customers in the house, who to free +drinking added fierce talking, and a quarrel ensued. One of them on +receiving a blow with the bottom of a quart pot, looked so +ludicrously rueful, that Hogarth snatched out a pencil and sketched +him as he stood. It was very like and very laughable, and +contributed to the restoration of order and good humour."</p> +<hr /> +<h3>THE "GOOD BOY" LOVER.</h3> +<p>"When I was a lad," said a facetious gentleman to the recorder +of the anecdote, "I was, or rather fancied myself to be, +desperately in love with a very charming young lady. Dining at her +parents' house one day, I was unfortunately helped to the gizzard +of a chicken, attached to one of the wings. Aware, like most +'<i>good boys</i>' that it was extremely ungenteel to leave +anything upon my plate, and being over anxious to act with +etiquette and circumspection in this interesting circle, I, as a +'good boy' wished strictly to conform myself to the rules of good +breeding. But the <i>gizzard</i> of a fowl! Alas! it was +impossible! how unfortunate! I <i>abhorred</i> it! No, I could not +either for <i>love</i> or money have swallowed such a thing! So, +after blushing, playing with the annoyance, and casting many a +side-long glance to see if I was observed, I contrived at length to +roll it from my plate into my <i>mouchoir</i>, which I had placed +on my knees purposely for its reception; the next minute all was +safely lodged in my pocket. Conversing with the object of my +affections, during the evening, in a state of nervous +forgetfulness, I drew forth my handkerchief, and in a superb +flourish, out flew the GIZZARD! Good heavens! my fair one stared, +coloured, laughed; I was petrified; away flew my ecstatic dreams; +and out of the house I flung myself without one '<i>au revoir</i>,' +but with a consciousness of the truth of that delectable ballad +which proclaims, that 'Love <i>has</i> EYES!!' I thought no more of +love in that quarter, believe me!" M.L.B.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>ADMIRAL RODNEY.</h3> +<p>During the heat of the memorable battles with Count de Grasse, +of April 9th and 12th, 1782, the gallant Rodney desired his young +aid-de-camp (Mr. Charles Dashwood<a id="footnotetag9" name= +"footnotetag9"></a><a href="#footnote9"><sup>9</sup></a>) to make +him a glass of lemonade, the ingredients for which were at hand. +Not having any thing to stir it with but a knife, already +discoloured by the cutting of the lemon, Sir George coolly said, on +Mr. Dashwood presenting it to him, "Child, that may do for a +midshipman, but not for an admiral—take it yourself, and send +my servant to me." C.C.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>EXPRESSIVE WORDS.</h3> +<p>I knew very well a French Chevalier, who on coming to England, +applied himself with amazing ardour to the study of our language, +and his remarks upon it, if not always very acute were at least +entertaining. One day, reading aloud an English work, he stopped at +the word SPLASH; expressed himself highly delighted with it, as a +term, which minutely described the thing meant; then repeating it +many times with marked pleasure, and a strong sibillation, he +added, "No! no! dere is noting at all, noting in <i>my</i> language +dat de same would be like <i>splash</i>!" Perhaps the following +sentence from the satire of a notorious wit in Elizabeth's reign, +is a fair specimen of those expressive words which <i>paint</i>, +the object of which they speak:—"To which place, Gabriel +came, <i>ruffling</i> it out, hufty-tufty, in his new suit of +velvet." The man was vain; the writer has made him a +<i>peacock</i>. M.L.B.</p> +<hr /> +<p>I would no more bring a new work out in summer than I would sell +pork in the dog-days.—<i>Bookseller in Cit. World.</i></p> +<hr /> +<p>LIMBIRD'S EDITIONS.</p> +<p>CHEAP and POPULAR WORKS published at the MIRROR OFFICE in the +Strand, near Somerset House.</p> +<p>The ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS, Embellished with nearly 150 +Engravings. Price 6s. 6d. boards.</p> +<p>The TALES of the GENII. Price 2s.</p> +<p>The MICROCOSM: By the Right Hon. G. CANNING. &c. Price +2s.</p> +<p>PLUTARCH'S LIVES, with Fifty Portraits, 2 vols. price 13s. +boards.</p> +<p>COWPER'S POEMS, with 12 Engravings, price 3s. 6d. boards.</p> +<p>COOK'S VOYAGES, 2 vols. price 8s. boards.</p> +<p>The CABINET of CURIOSITIES: or, WONDERS of the WORLD DISPLAYED. +Price 5s. boards.</p> +<p>BEAUTIES of SCOTT. 2 vols. price 7s. boards.</p> +<p>The ARCANA of SCIENCE for 1828. Price 4s. 6d.</p> +<p>*** Any of the above Works can be purchased in Parts.</p> +<p>GOLDSMITH'S ESSAYS. Price 8d. DR. FRANKLIN'S ESSAYS. Price 1s. +2d. BACON'S ESSAYS Price 8d. SALMAGUNDI. Price 1s. 8d.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote1" name= +"footnote1"></a> <b>Footnote 1</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag1">(return)</a> +<p>Johnson's Life of Thomson.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote2" name= +"footnote2"></a> <b>Footnote 2</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag2">(return)</a> +<p><i>Show-houses</i> is a very appropriate term for such of the +mansions of our nobility and gentry as are open to public +inspection. Hagley is extremely rich in treasures of art. A mere +catalogue of them would occupy the whole of our sheet; but we must +notice two curiously carved mahogany tables, which cost +£200.; four exquisitely carved busts of Shakspeare, Milton, +Spenser, and Dryden, by Scheimaker, and bequeathed to George, Lord +Lyttleton, by Pope; the portrait of Pope and his dog, Bounce; a +fine Madonna, by Rubens; several pictures by Vandyke, Sir Peter +Lely, Le Brun, &c. &c. the Gobelin tapestry of the drawing +room; the ceiling painted by Cipriani; and the family pictures, +among which is Judge Lyttleton, copied from the painted glass in +the Middle Temple Hall.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote3" name= +"footnote3"></a> <b>Footnote 3</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag3">(return)</a> +<p>Thomson's affectionate letter to his sister, (quoted by Johnson, +who received it from Boswell,) is dated "Hagley, in Worcestershire, +October the 4th, 1747."</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote4" name= +"footnote4"></a> <b>Footnote 4</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag4">(return)</a> +<p>Anteuil, near Paris.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote5" name= +"footnote5"></a> <b>Footnote 5</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag5">(return)</a> +<p>Horace speaks thus to his steward in the country. Epistle xiv. +book 1.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote6" name= +"footnote6"></a> <b>Footnote 6</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag6">(return)</a> +<p>Lewis XIV.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote7" name= +"footnote7"></a> <b>Footnote 7</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag7">(return)</a> +<p>See Ode sur la prise de Namur.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote8" name= +"footnote8"></a> <b>Footnote 8</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag8">(return)</a> +<p>This metaphor has been considered too bold, and perhaps justly, +but <i>Despreaux</i> did not think it so. He observed to <i>M. +Dagnesseau</i> that if this line were not good, he might burn the +whole production.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote9" name= +"footnote9"></a> <b>Footnote 9</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag9">(return)</a> +<p>Afterwards advanced to the rank of post captain, in 1801.</p> +</blockquote> +<hr class="full" /> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11462 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/11462-h/images/382-1.png b/11462-h/images/382-1.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..16bfc15 --- /dev/null +++ b/11462-h/images/382-1.png diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b6c2696 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #11462 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11462) diff --git a/old/11462-8.txt b/old/11462-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..87ce023 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11462-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2005 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and +Instruction, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction + Vol. 14, Issue 382, July 25, 1829 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: March 5, 2004 [EBook #11462] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, NO. 382 *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Marvin A. Hodges, David King, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 14, No. 382.] SATURDAY, JULY 25, 1829. [PRICE 2d. + + + + +POPE'S TEMPLE, AT HAGLEY + + +[Illustration: Pope's Temple, at Hagley] + +Reader! are you going out of town "_in search of the picturesque_"--if +so, bend your course to the classic, the consecrated ground of HAGLEY! +think of LYTTLETON, POPE, SHENSTONE, and THOMSON, or refresh your memory +from the "_Spring_" of the latter, as-- + + Courting the muse, thro' _Hagley_ Park thou strayst. + Thy _British Tempe_! There along the dale, + With woods o'erhung, and shagg'd with mossy rocks, + Whence on each hand the gushing waters play, + And down the rough cascade white dashing fall, + Or gleam in lengthen'd vista through the trees, + You silent steal; or sit beneath the shade + Of solemn oaks, that tuft the swelling mounts + Thrown graceful round by Nature's careless hand, + And pensive listen to the various voice + Of rural peace; the herds, the flocks, the birds, + The hollow-whispering breeze, the 'plaint of rills, + That, purling down amid the twisted roots + Which creep around their dewy murmurs shake + On the sooth'd ear. + +Such is the fervid language in which the Poet of the year invoked + + "LYTTLETON, the friend!" + +Yet these lines will kindle the delight and reverence of every lover of +Nature, in common with the effect of the _Seasons_ on the reader, who +"wonders that he never saw before what Thomson shows him, and that he +never yet has felt what Thomson impresses."[1] + + [1] Johnson's Life of Thomson. + +But we quit these nether flights of song to describe the locality of +Hagley Park, of whose beauties our Engraving is but a mere vignette, and +in comparison like holding a candle to the sun. The village of Hagley is +a short distance from Bromsgrove, in Worcestershire, whence the +pleasantest route to the park is to turn to the right on the Birmingham +road, which cuts the grounds into two unequal parts. The house is a +plain and even simple, yet classical edifice. Whately, in his work on +Gardening, describes it as surrounded by a lawn, of fine uneven ground, +and diversified with large clumps, little groups, and single trees; it +is open in front, but covered on one side by the Witchbury hills; on the +other side, and behind by the eminences in the park, which are high and +steep, and all overspread with a lofty hanging wood. The lawn pressing +to the front, or creeping up the slopes of three hills, and sometimes +winding along glades into the depth of the wood, traces a beautiful +outline to a sylvan scene, already rich to luxuriance in massive +foliage, and stately growth. The present house was built by the first +Lord Lyttleton, not on, but near to, the site of the ancient family +mansion, a structure of the sixteenth century. Admission may be obtained +on application to the housekeeper; and for paintings, carving, and +gilding, Hagley is one of the richest show-houses in the kingdom.[2] + + [2] _Show-houses_ is a very appropriate term for such of the + mansions of our nobility and gentry as are open to public + inspection. Hagley is extremely rich in treasures of art. A mere + catalogue of them would occupy the whole of our sheet; but we + must notice two curiously carved mahogany tables, which cost + £200.; four exquisitely carved busts of Shakspeare, Milton, + Spenser, and Dryden, by Scheimaker, and bequeathed to George, + Lord Lyttleton, by Pope; the portrait of Pope and his dog, + Bounce; a fine Madonna, by Rubens; several pictures by Vandyke, + Sir Peter Lely, Le Brun, &c. &c. the Gobelin tapestry of the + drawing room; the ceiling painted by Cipriani; and the family + pictures, among which is Judge Lyttleton, copied from the + painted glass in the Middle Temple Hall. + +Much as the visiter will admire the refined taste displayed within the +mansion, his admiration will be heightened by the classic taste in which +the grounds are disposed. A short distance from the house, embosomed in +trees, stands the church, built in the time of Henry III.; with a +sublime Gothic arch, richly painted windows, and a ceiling fretted with +the heraldic fires of the Lyttleton family, whose tombs are placed on +all sides; among them, the resting-place of the gay poet is +distinguished by the following plain inscription:-- + + This unadorned stone was placed here + By the particular desire and express + Directions of the Right Honourable + GEORGE, LORD LYTTLETON, + Who died August 22, 1773, aged 64. + +Leaving the church we ascend to the crest of a hill, on which stands the +Prince of Wales's Pillar. From this point, the view is inexpressibly +beautiful, in which may be seen an octagon seat sacred to the memory of +Thomson, and erected on the brow of a verdant steep, his favourite spot. +In the foreground is a gently winding valley; on the rising hill beyond +is a noble wood, whilst to the right the open country fades in the +distance; on the left the Clent hills appear, and a dusky antique tower +stands just below them at the extremity of the wood; whilst in the midst +of it, we can discern the _Doric temple sacred to Pope_. This exquisite +gem of the picturesque is represented in our Engraving. + +In the adjoining grove of oaks is the antique tower; in a beautiful +amphitheatre of wood, an Ionic rotunda; and in an embowering grove a +Palladian bridge, with a light airy portico. Here on a fine lawn is the +urn inscribed to Pope, mentioned by Shenstone: + + Here Pope! ah, never must that towering mind + To his loved haunts, or dearer friend return; + What art, what friendship! oh! what fame resign'd; + In yonder glade I trace his mournful urn. + +At the end of the valley, in an obscure corner is a hermitage, composed +of roots and moss, whence we look down on a piece of water in the +hollow, thickly shaded with tall trees, (_see the engraving_,) over +which is a fine view of distant landscape. This spot is the extremity of +the park, and the Clent hills rise in all their wild irregularity, +immediately behind it. + +We have not space to describe, or rather to abridge from Whately's +beautiful description, a tithe of the classic embellishments of Hagley. +Shenstone as well as Pope has here his votive urn. Ivied ruin, temple, +grotto, statue, fountain, and bridge; the proud portico and the humble +rustic seat, alternate amidst these ornamental charms, and never were +Nature and art more delightfully blended than in the beauties of Hagley. +Here Pope, Shenstone, and Thomson[3] passed many hours of calm +contemplation and poetic ease, amidst the hospitalities of the noble +owner of Hagley. To think of their kindred spirits haunting its groves, +and their imaginative contrivances of votive temples, urns, and tablets, +and to combine them with these enchanting scenes of Nature, is to +realize all that Poets have sung of Arcadia of old. Happy! happy life +for the man of letters; what a retreat must your bowers have afforded +from the common-place perplexities of every-day life: Alas! the picture +is almost too sunny for sober contemplation. + + [3] Thomson's affectionate letter to his sister, (quoted by + Johnson, who received it from Boswell,) is dated "Hagley, in + Worcestershire, October the 4th, 1747." + + * * * * * + +_In part of the impression of our last Number, we stated the architect +of the front of_ Apsley House, _to be Sir Jeffrey Wyatville, instead of +Mr. Benjamin Wyatt, by whom the design was furnished, and under whose +superintendence this splendid improvement has been executed. Mr. B. +Wyatt is likewise the architect of the superb mansion built for the late +Duke of York._ + + * * * * * + + +INGRATITUDE. + +A DRAMATIC SKETCH. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + + Hence, faithless wretch! thou hast forgot the hand + That sav'd thee from oppression--from the grasp + Of want. I fed you once--then you was poor: + Even as I am now. Yet from the store + Of your abundance, you refuse to grant + The veriest trifle. May the bounty + Of that great God who gave you what you have + Ne'er from you flow. You have forgot me, sir, + But I remember ere I left this land, + By way of traffic for the western world, + I had a favourite, faithful dog, + Who for the kindnesses I pour'd upon him + Would fawn upon me: not in flattery, + But in a sort that spoke his generous nature. + Lasting as memory, + Faster than friendship--deeper than the wave + Is the affection of a mindless brute. + In a few hours (for I can almost see + The cot wherein these travell'd bones were cradled,) + I shall have ended an untoward enterprize, + And if that honest creature I have told you of + Still breathes this vital air, and will not know me, + May hospitality keep closed her gates + Against me, till I find a home within + The grave. CYMBELINE. + + * * * * * + + +M. BOILEAU TO HIS GARDENER. + +IMITATED + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + + Industrious man, thou art a prize to me, + The best of masters--surely born for thee; + Thou keeper art of this my rural seat,[4] + Kept at my charge to keep my garden neat; + To train the woodbine and to crop the yew-- + In th' art of gard'ning equall'd p'rhaps by few. + O! could I cultivate my barren soul, + As thou this garden canst so well control; + Pluck up each brier and thorn, by frequent toil, + And clear the mind as thou canst cleanse the soil[5] + + But now, my faithful servant, Anthony, + Just speak, and tell me what you think of me; + When through the day amidst the gard'ning trade + You bear the wat'ring pot, or wield the spade, + And by your labour cause each part to yield, + And make my garden like a fruitful field; + What say you, when you see me musing there + With looks intent as lost in anxious care, + And sending forth my sentiments in words + That oft intimidate the peaceful birds? + Dost thou not then suppose me void of rest, + Or think some demon agitates my breast? + Yon villagers, you know, are wont to say + Thy master's fam'd for writing many a lay, + 'Mongst other matters too he's known to sing + The glorious acts of our victorious king;[6] + Whose martial fame resounds thro' every town; + Unparallel'd in wisdom and renown. + You know it well--and by this garden wall + P'rhaps Mons and Namur[7] at this instant fall. + What shouldst thou think if haply some should say + This noted chronicler's employ'd to-day + In writing something new--and thus his time + Devotes to thee--to paint his thoughts in rhyme? + My master, thou wouldst say, can ably teach, + And often tells me more than parsons preach; + But still, methinks, if he was forc'd to toil + Like me each day--to cultivate the soil, + To prune the trees, to keep the fences round; + Reduce the rising to the level ground, + Draw water from the fountains near at hand + To cheer and fertilize the thirsty land, + He would not trade in trifles such as these, + And drive the peaceful linnets from the trees. + + Now, Anthony, I plainly see that you + Suppose yourself the busiest of the two; + But ah, methinks you'd tell a diff'rent tale + If two whole days beyond the garden pale + You were to leave the mattock and the spade + And all at once take up the poet's trade: + To give a manuscript a fairer face, + And all the beauty of poetic grace; + Or give the most offensive flower that blows + Carnation's sweets, and colours of the rose; + And change the homely language of the clown + To suit the courtly readers of the town-- + Just such a work, in fact, I mean to say, + As well might please the critics of the day! + + Soon from this work returning tir'd and lean, + More tann'd than though you'd twenty summers seen, + The wonted gard'ning tools again you'd take + Your long-accustom'd shovel and your rake; + And then exclaiming, you would surely say, + 'Twere better far to labour many a day + Than e'er attempt to take such useless flights, + And vainly strive to gain poetic heights, + Impossible to reach--I might as soon + Ascend at once and land upon the moon! + + Come, Anthony, attend: let me explain + (Although an idler) weariness and pain. + Man's ever rack'd and restless, here below, + And at his best estate must labour know. + Then comes fatigue. The Sisters nine may please + And promise poets happiness and ease; + But e'en amidst those trees, that cooling shade, + That calm retreat for them expressly made, + No rest they find--there rich effusions flow + In all the measures bardic numbers know: + Thus on their way in endless toil they move, + And spend their strength in labours that they love. + Beneath the trees the bards the muses haunt, + And with incessant toil are seen to pant; + But still amidst their pains, they pleasure find + An ample entertainment for the mind. + But, after all, 'tis plain enough to me, + A man unstudious, must unhappy be; + Who deems a dull, inactive life the best, + A life of laziness, a life of rest; + A willing slave to sloth--and well I know, + He suffers much who nothing has to do. + His mind beclouded, he obscurely sees, + And free from busy life imagines ease. + All sinful pleasures reign without control, + And passions unsubdued pollute the soul; + He thus indulges in impure desires, + Which long have lurk'd within, like latent fires: + At length they kindle--burst into a flame + On him they sport--sad spectacle of shame. + Remorse ensues--with every fierce disease. + The stone and cruel gout upon him seize; + To quell their rage some fam'd physicians come + Who scarce less cruel, crowd the sick man's room; + On him they operate--these learned folk, + Make him saw rocks, and cleave the solid oak;[8] + And gladly would the man his fate resign + For such an humble, happy state as thine. + Be thankful, Anthony, and think with me, + The poor hardworking man may happier be + If blest with strength, activity, and health, + Than those who roll in luxury and wealth. + + Two truths important, I proceed to tell, + One is a truth, you surely know full well; + That labour is essential here below + To man--a source of weal instead of woe: + The other truth, few words suffice to prove, + No blame attaches to the life I love. + So still attend--but I must say no more, + I plainly see, you wish my sermon o'er; + You gape, you close your eyes, you drop your chin, + Again methinks I'd better not begin. + Besides, these melons seem to wish to know + The reason why they are neglected so; + And ask if yonder village holds its feast + And thou awhile art there detained a guest, + While all the flowery tribes make sad complaint. + For want of water they are grown quite faint. + + _Tipton._ T.S.A. + + [4] Anteuil, near Paris. + + [5] Horace speaks thus to his steward in the country. Epistle + xiv. book 1. + + [6] Lewis XIV. + + [7] See Ode sur la prise de Namur. + + [8] This metaphor has been considered too bold, and perhaps + justly, but _Despreaux_ did not think it so. He observed to _M. + Dagnesseau_ that if this line were not good, he might burn the + whole production. + + * * * * * + + + +THE SELECTOR, AND LITERARY NOTICES OF _NEW WORKS._ + + + * * * * * + + +LIVES OF BRITISH PAINTERS, SCULPTORS, AND ARCHITECTS. + +_By Allan Cunningham._ + + +This volume is the first of a series of Lives of Artists, and the fourth +number of Murray's _Family Library_. The author is a first-rate poet, +but it appears that he undertook this task with some diffidence. We +have, however, few artists of literary attainments, and they are more +profitably employed than in authorship. Little apology was necessary, +for of all literary men, poets are best calculated to write on the Fine +Arts: and the genius of Poetry, Painting, Sculpture, and Music, is often +associated in one mind, in love of the subjects at least, if not in +practice. + +Prefixed to the "Lives," is a delightful chapter on British Art before +the birth of Hogarth, from which we quote the following:-- + +"Poetry, Painting, Sculpture, and Music, are the natural offspring of +the heart of man. They are found among the most barbarous nations; they +flourish among the most civilized; and springing from nature, and not +from necessity or accident, they can never be wholly lost in the most +disastrous changes. In this they differ from mere inventions; and, +compared with mechanical discoveries, are what a living tree is to a log +of wood. It may indeed be said that the tongue of poetry is occasionally +silent, and the hand of painting sometimes stayed; but this seems not to +affect the ever-living principle which I claim as their characteristic. +They are heard and seen again in their season, as the birds and flowers +are at the coming of spring; and assert their title to such immortality +as the things of earth may claim. It is true that the poetry of +barbarous nations is rude, and their attempts at painting uncouth; yet +even in these we may recognise the foreshadowings of future excellence, +and something of the peculiar character which, in happier days, the +genius of the same tribe is to stamp upon worthier productions. The +future Scott, or Lawrence, or Chantrey, may be indicated afar-off in the +barbarous ballads, drawings, or carvings, of an early nation. Coarse +nature and crude simplicity are the commencement, as elevated nature and +elegant simplicity are the consummation of art. + +"When the Spaniards invaded the palaces of Chili and Peru, they found +them filled with works of art. Cook found considerable beauty of drawing +and skill of workmanship in the ornamented weapons and war-canoes of the +islanders of the South Sea; and in the interior recesses of India, +sculptures and paintings, of no common merit, are found in every +village. In like manner, when Caesar landed among the barbarians of +Britain, he found them acquainted with arts and arms; and his savage +successors, the Saxons, added to unextinguishable ferocity a love of +splendour and a rude sense of beauty, still visible in the churches +which they built, and the monuments which they erected to their princes +and leaders. All those works are of that kind called ornamental: the +graces of true art, the truth of action and the dignity of sentiment are +wanting; and they seem to have been produced by a sort of mechanical +process, similar to that which creates figures in arras. Art is, indeed, +of slow and gradual growth; like the oak, it is long of growing to +maturity and strength. Much knowledge of colour, much skill of hand, +much experience in human character, and a deep sense of light and shade, +have to be acquired, to enable the pencil to embody the conceptions of +genius. The artist has to seek for all this in the accumulated mass of +professional knowledge: which time has gathered for his instruction, and +with his best wisdom, and his happiest fortune, he can only add a little +more information to the common stock, for the benefit of his successors. +In no country has Painting risen suddenly into eminence. While Poetry +takes wing at once, free and unincumbered, she is retarded in her ascent +by the very mechanism to which she must at last owe at least half her +glory. In Britain, Painting was centuries in throwing off the fetters of +mere mechanical skill, and in rising into the region of genius. The +original spirit of England had appeared in many a noble poem, while the +two sister arts were still servilely employed in preserving incredible +legends, in taking the likeness of the last saint whom credulity had +added to the calendar, and in confounding the acts of the apostles in +the darkness of allegory." + +Then follows an outline of early Art in England, in the embellishment of +cathedrals, &c.; among which is the following notice of one of the +earliest of our attempts at historical portraiture which can be +authenticated:-- + +"It is a Painting on Wood; the figures are less than life, and represent +Henry the Fifth and his relations. It measures four feet six inches +long, by four feet four inches high, and was in the days of Catholic +power the altarpiece of the church of Shene. An angel stands in the +centre, holding in his hands the expanding coverings of two tents, out +of which the king, with three princes, and the queen, with four +princesses, are proceeding to kneel at two altars, where crosses, and +sceptres, and books are lying. They wear long and flowing robes, with +loose hair, and have crowns on their heads. In the background, St. +George appears in the air, combating with the dragon, while Cleodelinda +kneels in prayer beside a lamb. It is not, indeed, quite certain that +this curious work was made during the reign of Henry the Fifth, but +there can be little doubt of its being painted as early as that of his +son." + +In the next page we have the following character of an English artist of +about the same period:-- + +"He was at once architect, sculptor, carpenter, goldsmith, armourer, +jeweller, saddler, tailor, and painter. There is extant, in Dugdale, a +curious example of the character of the times, and a scale by which we +can measure the public admiration of art. It is a contract between the +Earl of Warwick and John Rag, citizen and tailor, London, in which the +latter undertakes to execute the emblazonry of the earl's pageant in his +situation of ambassador to France. In the tailor's bill, gilded griffins +mingle with Virgin Marys; painted streamers for battle or procession, +with the twelve apostles; and 'one coat for his grace's body, lute with +fine gold,' takes precedence of St. George and the Dragon." + +We wish some of the criticism in this chapter had been milder, and a few +of the invectives not so highly charged; some of them even out-Herod the +fury of an article on Painting, in a recent number of the _Edinburgh +Review_. But we must pass on to pleasanter matters--as the following +poetical paragraphs:-- + +"The art of tapestry as well as the art of illuminating books, aided in +diffusing a love of painting over the island. It was carried to a high +degree of excellence. The earliest account of its appearance in England +is during the reign of Henry the Eighth, but there is no reason to doubt +that it was well known and in general esteem much earlier. The +traditional account, that we were instructed in it by the Saracens, has +probably some foundation. The ladies encouraged this manufacture by +working at it with their own hands; and the rich aided by purchasing it +in vast quantities whenever regular practitioners appeared in the +market. It found its way into church and palace--chamber and hall. It +served at once to cover and adorn cold and comfortless walls. It added +warmth, and, when snow was on the hill and ice in the stream, gave an +air of social snugness which has deserted some of our modern mansions. + +"At first the figures and groups, which rendered this manufacture +popular, were copies of favourite paintings; but, as taste improved and +skill increased, they showed more of originality in their conceptions, +if not more of nature in their forms. They exhibited, in common with all +other works of art, the mixed taste of the times--a grotesque union of +classical and Hebrew history--of martial life and pastoral repose--of +Greek gods and Romish saints. Absurd as such combinations certainly +were, and destitute of those beauties of form and delicate gradations +and harmony of colour which distinguish paintings worthily so +called--still when the hall was lighted up, and living faces thronged +the floor, the silent inhabitants of the walls would seem, in the eyes +of our ancestors, something very splendid. As painting rose in fame, +tapestry sunk in estimation. The introduction of a lighter and less +massive mode of architecture abridged the space for its accommodation, +and by degrees the stiff and fanciful creations of the loom vanished +from our walls. The art is now neglected. I am sorry for this, because I +cannot think meanly of an art which engaged the heads and hands of the +ladies of England, and gave to the tapestried hall of elder days fame +little inferior to what now waits on a gallery of paintings." + +Passing over Holbein, Sir Antonio Moore, Vandyke, Lely, Kneller, and +Thornhill, we come to the lives of Hogarth--Wilson--Reynolds and +Gainsborough--from which we select a few characteristic anecdotes and +sketches. In noticing Hogarth's early life, Mr. Cunningham has thrown +some discredit on a book, which on its publication, made not a little +chat among artists:-- + +"Of those early days I find this brief notice in Smith's Life of +Nollekens the sculptor. 'I have several times heard Mr. Nollekens +observe, that he had frequently seen Hogarth, when a young man, saunter +round Leicester Fields with his master's sickly child hanging its head +over his shoulder.' It is more amusing to read such a book than safe to +quote it. Hogarth had ceased to have a master for seventeen years, was +married to Jane Thornhill, kept his carriage, and was in the full blaze +of his reputation, when Nollekens was born." + +Among Hogarth's early labours are his Illustrations of Hudibras, +published in 1726. These were seventeen plates; and we have lately seen +in the possession of Mr. Britton, the architect, eleven original +paintings illustrative of Butler's witty poem, and attributed to +Hogarth. + +From the notices of Hogarth's portraits we select the following:-- + +"Hogarth's Portrait of Henry Fielding, executed after death from +recollection, is remarkable as being the only likeness extant of the +prince of English novelists. It has various histories. According to +Murphy, Fielding had made many promises to sit to Hogarth, for whose +genius he had a high esteem, but died without fulfilling them; a lady +accidentally cut a profile with her scissars, which recalled Fielding's +face so completely to Hogarth's memory, that he took up the outline, +corrected and finished it and made a capital likeness. The world is +seldom satisfied with a common account of any thing that interests +it--more especially as a marvellous one is easily manufactured. The +following, then, is the second history. Garrick, having dressed himself +in a suit of Fielding's clothes, presented himself unexpectedly before +the artist, mimicking the step, and assuming the look of their deceased +friend. Hogarth was much affected at first, but, on recovering, took his +pencil, and drew the portrait. For those who love a soberer history, the +third edition is ready. Mrs. Hogarth, when questioned concerning it, +said, that she remembered the affair well; her husband began the +picture--and finished it--one evening in his own house, and sitting by +her side. + +"Captain Coram, the projector of the Foundling Hospital, sat for his +portrait to Hogarth, and it is one of the best he ever painted. There is +a natural dignity and great benevolence expressed in a face which, in +the original, was rough and forbidding. This worthy man, having laid out +his fortune and impaired his health in acts of charity and mercy, was +reduced to poverty in his old age. An annuity of a hundred pounds was +privately purchased, and when it was presented to him, he said, 'I did +not waste the wealth which I possessed in self-indulgence or vain +expense, and am not ashamed to own that in my old age I am poor.' + +"The last which I shall notice of this class of productions, is the +portrait of the celebrated demagogue John Wilkes. This singular +performance originated in a quarrel with that witty libertine, and his +associate Churchill the poet: it immediately followed an article, from +the pen of Wilkes, in the North Briton, which insulted Hogarth as a man, +and traduced him as an artist. It is so little of a caricature, that +Wilkes good humouredly observes somewhere in his correspondence, 'I am +growing every day more and more like my portrait by Hogarth.' The +terrible scourge of the satirist fell bitterly upon the personal and +moral deformities of the man. Compared with his chastisement the +hangman's whip is but a proverb, and the pillory a post of honour. He +might hope oblivion from the infamy of both; but from Hogarth there was +no escape. It was little indeed that the artist had to do, to brand and +emblazon him with the vices of his nature--but with how much +discrimination that little is done! He took up the correct portrait, +which Walpole upbraids him with skulking into a court of law to obtain, +and in a few touches the man sank, and the demon of hypocrisy and +sensuality sat in his stead. It is a fiend, and yet it is Wilkes still. +It is said that when he had finished this remarkable portrait, the +former friendship of Wilkes overcame him, and he threw it into the fire, +from which it was saved by the interposition of his wife." + +All the criticisms on Hogarth's _moral_ pictures have an air of +originality and freshness of mind, which is so attractive, as to make us +regret that we have not room for them. In proof of this, only let the +reader turn to Mr. Cunningham's remarks on the Harlot and Rake's +Progress, at pages 98 and 99. His descriptions too of the satirical +pictures are extremely ludicrous, and in effect second only to painting +itself. The following anecdote of the celebrated _March to Finchley_ is +curious, though well known:-- + +"The original painting was, on the publication of the print, disposed of +by a kind of lottery. Seven shillings and sixpence were fixed as the +price of a print; and every purchaser of a print was entitled to a +chance in the lottery for the picture. Eighteen hundred and forty-three +chances were subscribed for; a hundred and sixty-seven tickets, which +remained, were presented to the Foundling Hospital. One of the +Hospital's tickets drew the desired prize; and on the same night Hogarth +delivered the painting to the governors, not a little pleased that it +was to adorn a public place." + +After quoting Walpole's description of Hogarth's _Sigismunda_, in which +he says-- + +"To add to the disgust raised by such vulgar expression, her fingers +were blooded by her lover's heart, that lay before her like that of a +sheep for her dinner;--" + +Mr. C. observes, "this is very severe, very pointed, and very untrue. +The Sigismunda of Hogarth is not tearing off her ornaments, nor are her +fingers bloodied by her lover's heart. It is said that the picture +resembled Mrs. Hogarth, who was a very handsome woman; and to this +circumstance Wilkes maliciously alludes in his unprincipled attack on +her husband. 'If the Sigismunda,' says this polite patriot, 'had a +resemblance of any thing ever seen on earth, or had the least pretence +to either meaning or expression, it was what he had seen, or perhaps +made--in real life--his own wife in an agony of passion; but of what +passion no connoisseur could guess.' That Mrs. Hogarth sat for the +picture of Sigismunda seems to have been known to conscientious John, +and this is supported by that lady's conduct to Walpole. This noble +biographer sent her a copy of his Anecdotes, accompanied by a courtly +and soothing note; but she was so much offended by his description of +the Sigismunda, that she took no notice of his present. The widow of the +artist was poor--and an opinion so ill-natured--so depreciating--and so +untrue, injured the property which she wished to sell: she loved too the +memory of her husband, and resented in the dignity of silence the +malicious and injurious attack. She considered the present as an insult +offered when she had no one to protect her. I love her pride and +reverence her affection." + +Of Hogarth's house at Chiswick, we have the following slight notice:-- + +"The time was now approaching when superstition, and folly, and vice, +were to be relieved from the satiric pencil which had awed them so +long--the health of Hogarth began to decline. He was aware of this, and +purchased a small house at Chiswick, to which he retired during the +summer, amusing himself with making slight sketches and retouching his +plates. This house stood till lately on a very pretty spot; but the +demon of building came into the neighbourhood, choked up the garden, and +destroyed the secluded beauty of Hogarth's cottage. The garden, well +stored with walnut, mulberry, and apple trees, contained a small study, +with a head-stone, placed over a favourite bullfinch, on which the +artist had etched the bird's head and written an epitaph. The cottage +contained many snug rooms, and was but yesterday the residence of a man +of learning and genius, Mr. Cary, the translator of Dante. The change of +scene, the free fresh air, and exercise on horseback, had for awhile a +favourable influence on Hogarth's health; but he complained that he was +no longer able to think with the readiness, and work with the elasticity +of spirit, of his earlier years. The friends of this artist observed, +and lamented, this falling away; his enemies hastened to congratulate +Churchill and Wilkes on the success of their malevolence; and these men +were capable of rejoicing in the belief that the work of nature was +their own." + +We are glad to see Mr. Cunningham throwing light on false conclusions +drawn from the eccentricities of genius, as in this little anecdote:-- + +"With Dr. Hoadley, who corrected the manuscript of the Analysis of +Beauty for the press, Hogarth was on such friendly terms that he was +admitted into one of the private theatrical exhibitions which the doctor +loved, and was appointed to perform along with Garrick and his +entertainer, a parody on that scene in Julius Caesar where the ghost +appears to Brutus. Hogarth personated the spectre, but so +unretentive--(we are told)--was his memory that though the speech +consisted only of two lines he was unable to get them by heart, and his +facetious associates wrote them on an illuminated lantern that he might +read them when he came upon the stage. Such is the way in which +anecdotes are manufactured, and conclusions of absence or imbecility +drawn. The speech of the ghost written on the paper lantern formed part +of the humour of the burlesque. Men, dull in comprehending the +eccentricities of genius, set down what passes their own understanding +to the account of the other's stupidity." + +Here our notice of the Life of Hogarth would end, did we not feel +inclined to venture a word or two respecting the omission of Hogarth's +_Tailpiece_, engraved in Ireland's "Life," and there described as his +last work. With the superstitious tale attached to it almost every one +is familiar; yet some notice ought surely to have been taken of the +story, even had it only been to expose its falsehood and absurdity. + +We find that we have proceeded but half through the volume, so that +Wilson, Reynolds, and Gainsborough must remain for another number. + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY. + + + * * * * * + + +_Microscopic Objects._ + + +The most delicate test objects for microscopes are the lines on the +feathers of butterflies or moths' wings, of which there are many +gradations; some easily demonstrated, and others only to be seen with +the most powerful reflectors, and to the best advantage by the simple +and uncondensed light of the lamp. The hair of a mouse is a very good +test object: it is best seen by daylight; the most difficult parts of +which are longitudinal lines in the transparent part of the hair, which +require high powers. The hair of the bat and seal are also fine tests. +The lines on the scales of the diamond beetle, &c. are excellent opaque +proof objects. The feet of flies are likewise very interesting. + + * * * * * + + +_New Lilac Dyes._ + + +Dr. Macculloch has lately produced two fine lilac dyes from plants of +domestic growth, not hitherto applied to this purpose. One is from the +berry of the Portugal laurel, and the other the black currant. The +simplest process with alum is all that is required for either; and as +far as his trials go, the best tint is produced by the former fruit. + + * * * * * + + +_Dirty Windows._ + + +We have frequently remarked small radiant and arborescent +crystallizations on dirty windows in London, and have found them to +consist of _sulphate of ammonia_. This salt, or at least, sulphite of +ammonia (which becomes sulphate by exposure to air), is an abundant +product of the combustion of coal. + +_Brande's Journal._ + + * * * * * + + +_Indigo._ + + +This valuable plant, which gives rise to as great speculation in India, +as hops in England, is much injured by wet weather; although the +rapidity of the growth of plants during much rain, in the temperature of +the tropics, is extraordinary, yet a proportional deficiency in all that +characterizes the vegetable world necessarily follows. This we find to +be the case with all forced vegetables; and the mildness of the radish +of hastened growth, when contrasted with the highly pungent and almost +acrid flavour of the slowly and gradually advanced one, may be adduced +as explanatory of this observation. Hence, it is practically well known +to manufacturers, that the indigo plant, however fine and luxuriant, as +is the natural result of much rain, is very deficient _in produce_, and +a similar loss is experienced even if the plant, without the fall of too +much rain, has grown up under cloudy weather. Sunshine, much and +continued sunshine, is essentially necessary for the proper exercise of +those secretory organs by which this peculiar drug is formed and +perfected. + +Indigo leaves produce two dyes--blue and yellow; but the refuse leaves, +when boiled for an hour and a half, will render the water yellow, tinged +with green. This water, kept boiling for two hours, (supplying the loss +by evaporation), will, when filtered, afford a precipitate, which, when +dried, will in colour be a dun-slate, and in quantity perhaps about +equal to the blue extract such leaves have produced. This observation, +as it can lead to no practical advantage, is made for the man of +science, rather than the man of business.--_Mr. C. Weston_--_in Brande's +Journal._ + + * * * * * + + +_Chain Bridge._ + + +Mr. Disney has lately erected at his seat the Hyde, Ingatestone, Essex, +a suspension bridge of common chain, which is much cheaper than either +wood or brick. It is fifty feet long, and four feet wide. The whole cost +of material, and workmanship scarcely exceeded 30_l_. Upon a rough +estimate, a wooden bridge of the same span would have cost from 80_l_. +to 100_l_., and a high arch probably from 150_l_. to 200_l_. The piers +or posts supporting the chains are of oak, but should they in ten or +fifteen years decay, 10_l_. in money, and three days in time would set +it up again.--_Brande's Jour._ + + * * * * * + + +_Stone Roofs._ + + +The Romans employed _pumice_ in building their arched incombustible +roofs. This porous material possessed the additional advantage, when +combined with good cement, of rendering the arched surface one united +petrifaction, opposing (in consequence of its firm union) little lateral +pressure, comparatively, against the sustaining walls. + +Bonomi, the architect, suggests that the principal cause of the +destructiveness of fires in large buildings, is the want of arched +surfaces of incombustible materials. This has been disastrously +exemplified in the destruction of the choir of York Minster, where the +roof of the aisles, which are solidly arched with stone, suffered no +injury; while the choir-roof, although much more raised above the action +of the fire, has been entirely destroyed by it. + + * * * * * + + +_Fossil Saurians._ + + +Several beautiful specimens of fossil saurians, or animals of the lizard +tribe, have, as our scientific readers are aware, been found at Lyme, in +Dorsetshire; but the world would to this day have remained ignorant of +the treasures England possessed, but for the patient labours of three +female pioneers in this service, viz. _Mary Anning_, a dealer; _Miss +Congrieve_, and _Miss Philpots_, residents, who for years had been +collecting and preserving these bodies from the wreck of the coast; the +two last without any other view than the gratification of a laudable +curiosity, and who, with unequalled liberality, communicated their +collections to every man of science that visited the place; and it is to +liberal minds like theirs, and Miss Bennet's, of Wiltshire that we owe +the first rescuing of these natural gems from the spoilers. We copy this +from a communication of Mr. Cumberland to Brande's Journal, and are +truly pleased to record such amiable examples of female excellence in +scientific pursuits. At Dover, Portsmouth, and other places we could +name, we obtained the best information respecting the fossils of the +coast, from females resident there, and we need not add that this +circumstance imparted additional interest to our inquiries. + + * * * * * + + +_The Zoological Society._ + + +We copy the following from the Report to the Zoological Society, just +published: + +"In the Museum in Bruton-street various improvements have taken place. +Additional cases have been erected, wherever space could be obtained, +for the exhibition of the different collections; and two persons have +been in constant employment in preparing and setting up the more +interesting specimens. An assistant has also been lately added, for the +arrangement of the shells, insects, and the other smaller subjects of +the collection; and much care has been bestowed upon the various +departments of comparative anatomy. An instructive as well as an +attractive series in every branch of zoology, but more particularly in +the groups of mammalia, birds, and insects, has thus been arranged for +inspection. A catalogue of the more important objects in the Museum has +been published; and a more detailed list, accompanied with scientific +notices of all the species, is in preparation. + +"The increase in the number of subjects in the collection during the +last year has been considerable, and many of the additions have been of +the utmost importance to science. The whole of these, with a few +exceptions, have been presented by the friends of the society. A +detailed list of these donations which are too numerous for insertion in +this report, is laid upon the table; a reference to the contents of +which will evince that the spirit of liberality, which laid the +foundations of this already valuable collection, has not decreased. + +"A very extensive correspondence has been established with naturalists +of foreign countries, and persons resident in distant parts, who are +anxious to promote the objects of the Society. Through these channels +many valuable acquisitions have been already received; and it is +expected that much of novelty and interest will continually pour in to +increase the attractions of the Museum and Menagerie. + +"The Garden in the Regent's Park is the principal source of attraction +and of expense. The nature of the soil, which consists of a thick +ungrateful clay, increases the cost of every work. The health of the +animals requires that oak floors be raised above the surface of the +ground; and it is necessary to lay a thick substratum of dry material +under every inclosure and every walk. These disadvantages are however +amply counterbalanced by its immediate vicinity to the town. The Council +have, notwithstanding the nature of the soil, endeavoured to give to the +garden all the attractions which good cultivation and an abundance of +flowers can afford: and they have to return their thanks for the very +liberal supplies for this purpose which they have occasionally received +from the Horticultural Society. The resort to the garden has far +surpassed the most sanguine expectations of the Council; 112,226 persons +have visited it during the last year." + + * * * * * + + + +THE NOVELIST + + + * * * * * + + +THE SIEGE OF ABYDOS. + +_A Romantic Tale._ + +(_For the Mirror._) + + +The infidel Turks, ever at variance with the Christians, were, in the +reign of king Orchanes, extremely ambitious to possess the famous Castle +of Abydos; and accordingly vast preparations were made for a close +siege. Previous to the arrival of the Turkish army before the castle, +the angelic Sophronia, daughter of the governor of Abydos, was visited +by a dream. She thought, that while walking out on a beautiful evening, +breathing the fragrant air, and gazing on the brilliant stars, she fell +into a loathsome ditch, in which she remained an hour, terrified, and +unable to move. At length, a handsome youth passed, and she implored him +to rescue her. She did not implore in vain; the young man assisted her +out, cleaned her clothes, and comforted her with pleasant words. They +then proceeded to a delightful bower, put on costly attire, and the +youth regaled the rescued lady with delicious fruits, and sang sonnets +on her personal beauty. Sophronia awoke, sad and disappointed, to find +that her late bliss was only a dream. In a day or two afterwards, the +Turkish army appeared, and a vigorous siege commenced; nevertheless, the +Christians stoutly defended the place, and would, ultimately, have +obliged the enemy to retire, had no intervention taken place. It +happened, unfortunately for the garrison, that a gallant Turkish +captain, in the prime of youth, called Abdurachman approached so near to +the castle gates, as to be plainly observed by the fair Sophronia, from +a small turret window, out of which she had viewed the besiegers. The +lady imagined this captain to be the person to whom she was so much +obliged in her dream, and rejoiced at the supposed discovery; she hoped +that the assailants would be successful in taking her father's castle +that she might have an opportunity of falling into the hands of the +gallant captain she so greatly admired. The siege still raged with much +fury, but was continually repulsed by the brave Christians, insomuch +that the Turkish general became disconcerted, and in the evening of the +third day after the commencement of the siege, retired to his camp, +about a league distant from the scene of action. Sophronia, meanwhile, +was agitated at the ill success of the Turks, though she did not despair +of seeing the captain again. + +She made a confidante of her maid Annis, who undertook, daring as the +attempt was, to steal from the castle to the enemy's camp, in order to +convey a letter from her mistress to Abdurachman. The intrepid Annis +commenced her task in the night: she avoided passing the sentinels and +wardens of the castle, but found her way to a postern gate, scarcely +known to any but herself. She arrived at Abdurachman's tent; the captain +was conversing with his friends about what the general intended to do on +the morrow. Annis desired to speak with him in private, to which he +consented. She then delivered the letter, which was bound with a lock of +the fair writer's hair, and the astonished Abdurachman perused the +following:-- + +"Adored Youth, + +"I am passionately in love with you, and am sorry that you have been +frustrated in your endeavours to take the castle. As I adore you beyond +measure, and shall certainly take poison if you do not succeed; I engage +to deliver Abydos with all its riches into your hands, provided you +follow my instructions. I advise, that in the morning by sunrise, you +raise the siege and withdraw your whole army from the castle, and return +not again till you hear from _me_. My father will be so rejoiced at your +departure, that he will be off his guard, and then I can easily conduct +you with secrecy into the castle." + +The delighted Turk very politely answered this remarkable _billet doux_, +assuring the fair writer that he was at her service, and that he would +implicitly follow her directions as to the taking of Abydos. As soon as +he had dismissed Annis, he flew with Sophronia's letter to the general, +who, upon reading it, expressed great astonishment; he determined to +raise the siege the next morning, and resolved to rely fully on the +beautiful traitress for the future success of his enterprise. The next +day came, and the general raised the siege and departed. The Christians +were rejoiced to see it, and in the evening made merry and drunk wine. +The governor's daughter took advantage of the garrison at this unguarded +moment; and fearing to trust again to the sincerity of her maid, +resolved to proceed herself to Abdurachman's tent. Annis led the way. +The night was serene, and the light of the moon showed the stately +castle of Abydos, dark and majestic. No noise was heard, save the heavy +and uniform step of the sentinels, whose bright arms, as they caught the +moon's rays, sparkled against the gloomy looking building. Little did +the inmates, now as tranquil as the night, dream of being surprised by +an enemy; and little did the brave governor imagine that his own beloved +daughter, at this moment, was treacherously hastening to a merciless +foe, with the intent to conduct him to Abydos! Sophronia reached her +lover's tent weary and faint, for she had walked with great haste. She +sank into the captain's arms, and then, almost inaudibly, informed him +that not a moment was to be lost, and that he must follow her +immediately to the castle. + +He obeyed, and having formed a litter for the lady, she was borne on the +shoulders of four stout Turks. When they arrived at the postern gate, +Sophronia told the captain that he, with his men, must first enter the +castle, and then kill the sentinels and wardens, after which he would be +enabled to give admittance to all his friends. The Turks strictly obeyed +the lady, who before the affair began hastened with Annis to her +apartment in order to await the issue of her plot. The Turks entered the +castle by hundreds, killing all they met, and were soon masters of the +place. Meanwhile, Sophronia and Annis, both dreadfully agitated, heard +from their chamber the dying groans of the poor Christians. Sometimes +the clashing of swords was distinguished, as if a number of persons were +engaged in combat; sometimes the loud lamentations of women intervened; +and sometimes the voices of the conquerors were alone heard in +exultation. At length the door of Sophronia's room burst open, and +Abdurachman rushed in to seize her, while Annis, nearly dead with +terror, calmly submitted to the grasp of a common soldier who +accompanied the captain. + +The dreadful scene was acted and over; the Turks were possessors of the +famed castle of Abydos, and Sophronia's father, the governor, was +hanged. Alas! deluded Sophronia! The faithless Abdurachman, whom she +supposed to have seen in a dream, regarded her not; even lots were cast +for her, and she fell to the share of one whom she did not know. The +beautiful Sophronia took poison and expired. + +G.W.N. + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + + * * * * * + + +THE LIBERTINE'S CONFESSION. + +_In Imitation of the Writers of the Sixteenth Century._ + + + I'm sad and sore afraid, + That fickle, and forsworn, + I've sported life away, + And now am left forlorn. + + Poor fool! I dreamt the years + Of youth would never fly, + And pleasure's brimming bowl + Methought could ne'er run dry. + + That woman's bounteous love + Should e'er wax cold for me! + It seem'd that she must first + A woman cease to be. + + Her fondest smiles I thought + My rights by charter were; + Her sighs, her tears, forsooth,-- + Whilst I--was free as air. + + I've knelt at many a shrine, + Of wit and beauty too; + I've lisp'd light vows to all, + And sworn that all were true. + + My pastime was to gain + Their young and grateful love, + Then break the heart I won, + And straight to others rove. + + Ah! wild wit, now at last + Thy vagrancies are o'er; + The ear and gazing eye + That you enthrall'd before. + + No longer hear or see; + Whilst those you now would woo, + The time-worn truant slight, + Nor dream of love with you. + + _New Monthly Magazine._ + + * * * * * + +Dublin is a great city. Dublin, as the late Lord L----th used to say, is +"one of the tay-drinkenest, say-bathinest, car-drivinest places in the +world; it flogs for _divarsion._" + + * * * * * + + +THE TOYMAN IS ABROAD. + +(_Concluded from page 46._) + + +There is a point at which the inconvenience of superfluities so far +exceeds their utility, that luxury becomes converted into a perfect +bore. What, for instance, but an annoyance, would be the most splendid +feast, to a man whose stomach is already overladen with food? Human +ingenuity may effect much; and the Romans, by means of emetics, met this +emergency with considerable skill; but on a more enlarged experience of +general history, it must be conceded, that it is quite impossible to add +one more superfluous meal to those already established by general usage. +So also in matters of dress, ladies' hats must not be larger than the +actual doorways of the country will admit--not at least until time is +allowed for a corresponding increase in our architectural proportions. +With respect to personal ornaments also, ear-rings must not be so +weighty as to tear the lobes of the ears; nor should a bracelet prevent, +by its size, the motions of the arm. "Barbaric pomp and gold" is a fine +thing; but a medallion, as heavy and as cumbrous as a shield, appended +to a lady's bosom, would be any thing but a luxury. So, in the other +extreme, a watch should not be so small as to render the dial-plate +illegible; nor should a shoe be so tight as to lame its wearer for life. +Beauty, it has been said, should learn to suffer; and there are, I am +aware, resources in vanity, that will reconcile man, and woman too, to +martyrdom; but these resources should not be exhausted wantonly; and in +pleasure, as in economy, there is no benefit in lighting the candle at +both ends. The true philosopher extracts the greatest good out of every +thing; and fools only, as Horace has it, run into one vice in trying to +avoid another. Let not the reader, from these remarks, suppose that +their author is a morose censurer of the times; or that the least sneer +is intended against that idol of all orthodoxy "things as they are." As +a general proposition, nothing can be more true, than that whatever is +established, even in the world of fashion, is, for the time being, +wisest, discreetest, best; and, woe betide the man that flies too +directly in its face. + +There is, however, one point upon which I own myself a little sore; and +in which, I do think, superfluities are carried to a somewhat vicious +excess. The point to which I allude, and I beg the patience of the +reader, is the vast increase of superfluities, which of late years have +become primary necessaries in the appointment of a well-furnished house. +Here, indeed, is a revolution; a revolution more formidable than the +French and the American emancipation put together. We all remember the +time when one tea-table, two or three card-tables, a pier glass, a small +detachment of chairs, with two armed corporals to command them, on +either side the fire-place, with a square piece of carpet in the centre +of the floor, made a very decent display in the drawing, or (as it was +then preposterously called) the dining-room. As yet, rugs for the hearth +were not; and twice a day did Betty go upon her knees to scour the +marble and uncovered slab. In the bedrooms of those days, a narrow slip +of carpet round the bed was the maximum of woollen integument allowed +for protecting the feet of the midnight wanderer from his couch; and, in +the staircases of the fairest mansions, a like slip meandered down the +centre of the flight of steps. At that time, curtains rose and fell in a +line parallel to the horizon, after the simple plan of the green +siparium of our theatres; and, being strictly confined to the windows, +they never dreamed of displaying themselves in front of a door. No +golden serpents then twisted their voluminous folds across the entire +breadth of the room; nor did richly-carved cods' heads and shoulders, +under the denomination of dolphins, or glittering spread eagles, with a +brass ring in their mouths, support fenestral draperies, which rival the +display of a Waterloo-house calico-vender. Thus far, I admit, the change +is an improvement. Nay, I could away with ladders to go to bed withal, +though many a time and oft they have broken my shins. I would not either +object to sofas and ottomans, in any reasonable proportion; but protest +I must, and in the strongest terms too, against such a multiplication +and variety of easy chairs, as effectually exclude the possibility of +easy sitting; and against the overweening increase of spider-tables, +that interferes with rectilinear progression. An harp mounted on a +sounding-board, which is a stumbling-block to the feet of the +short-sighted, is, I concede, an absolute necessity; and a piano-forte, +like a coffin, should occupy the centre even of the smallest given +drawing-room--"the court awards it, and the law doth give it,"--but why +multiply footstools, till there is no taking a single step in safety? An +Indian cabinet also, or a buhl armoire, are, either, or both of them, +very fit and becoming; but it cannot be right to make a broker's shop of +your best apartment. An ink-stand, as large as a show twelfth-cake, is +just and lawful; ditto, an ornamental escrutoire; and a _nécessaire_ for +the work-table is, if there be meaning in language, perfectly necessary. +These, with an adequate contingent of musical snuff-boxes, _or molu_ +clocks, China figures, alabaster vases and flower-pots, together with a +discreet superfluity of cut-paper nondescripts, albums, screens, toys, +prints, caricatures, duodecimo classics, new novels and souvenirs, to +cut a dash, and litter the tables, must be allowed to the taste and +refinement of the times. But surely some space should be left for +depositing a coffee-cup, or laying down a useful volume, when the hand +may require to be relieved from its weight, or when it is proper to take +a pinch of snuff, or agreeable to wipe one's forehead. Josses, beakers, +and Sevres' vases have unquestionably the _entrée_ into a genteel +apartment; but they are not entitled to a monopoly of the _locale_; nor +are Roman antiquities, or statues even by Canova, justifiable in +usurping the elbow-room of living men and women. Most unfortunately for +myself, I have a very small house, and a wife of the most enlarged +taste; and the disproportion between these blessings is so great, that I +cannot move without the risk of a heavy pecuniary loss by breakage, and +a heavier personal affliction in perpetual imputations of awkwardness. +Then, again, it is no easy matter to put on a smiling and indifferent +countenance, whenever a friend, accustomed to some latitude of motion, +runs, as is often the case, his devastating chair against a high-priced +work of art, or overturns a table laden with an "infinite thing" in +costly _bijouterie_. I have long made it a rule to exclude from my +visiting-list, or at least not to let up stairs, ladies who pay their +morning calls with a retinue of children: but the thing is not always +possible; and one urchin with his whip will destroy more in half an +hour, than the worth of a month's average domestic expenditure. Oh! how +I hate the little fidgeting, fingering, dislocating imps! A bull in a +china-shop is innocuous to the most orderly and amenable of them. Why +did Providence make children? and why does not some wise Draconic law +banish them for ever to the nursery? + +The general merit of nick-nacks is unquestioned. Ornaments, I admit, are +ornamental; and works of art afford intellectual amusement of the +highest order. But then perfection is their only merit; and a crack or a +flaw destroys all the pleasure of a sensible beholder. Yet I have not a +statue that is not a torso, nor a Chelsea china shepherdess with her +full complement of fingers. I have not a vase with both its handles, a +snuff-box that performs its waltz correctly, nor a volume of prints that +is not dogs-eared, stained, and ink-spotted. These are serious evils; +but they are the least that flow from a neglect of the maxim which +stands at the head of my paper. Perpend it well, reader; and bear ever +in mind that, in our desires, as in our corporeal structure, it is not +given to man to add a cubit to his stature. I am very tired; so "dismiss +me--enough." _New Monthly Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + + +NOTES OF A READER. + + + * * * * * + + +THE QUARTERLY REVIEW. + + +No. 81, of this truly excellent work had not reached us in time for the +close reading which it demands, and our "Notes" from it at present are +consequently few. The first in the number is a powerful paper on Dr. +Southey's _Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society_--"a +beautiful book," says the reviewer, "full of wisdom and devotion--of +poetry and feeling; conceived altogether in the spirit of other times, +such as the wise men of our own day may scoff at, but such as Evelyn, or +Isaak Walton, or Herbert would have delighted to honour." The work is in +general too polemical and political for our pages; but we may hereafter +be tempted to carve out a few pastoral pictures of the delightful +country round Keswick, where Dr. Southey resides. The present Review +contains but few extracts to our purpose, and is rather a paper on the +spirit of the _Colloquies_, than analytical of their merits. We take, +for example, the following admirable passage on the progress of +religious indifference; in which we break off somewhat hastily, +premising that the reader will be induced to turn to the Review itself +for the remainder of the article:-- + +There was a time, since the worship of images, (and happy would it have +been if the religious habits of the country had thenceforth stood +fixed,) when appropriate texts adorned the walls of the dwelling-rooms, +and children received at night a father's blessing;--and "let us worship +God" was said with solemn air, by the head of the household; and +churches were resorted to daily; and "the parson in journey" gave notice +for prayers in the hall of the inn--"for prayers and provender," quoth +he, "hinder no man;" and the cheerful angler, as he sat under the +willow-tree, watching his quill, trolled out a Christian catch. "Here we +may sit and pray, before death stops our breath;" and the merchant (like +the excellent Sutton, of the Charter House) thought how he could make +his merchandize subservient to the good of his fellow-citizens and the +glory of his God, and accordingly endowed some charitable, and learned, +and religious foundation, worthy of the munificence of a crowned head; +and the grave historian (Lord Clarendon himself does so) chose a text in +his Bible as a motto for his chapter on politics; and religion, in +short, reached unto every place, and, like Elisha stretched on the dead +child, (to use one of Jeremy Taylor's characteristic illustrations), +gave life and animation to every part of the body politic. But years +rolled on; and the original impulse given at the Reformation, and +augmented at the Rebellion, to undervalue all outward forms, has +silently continued to prevail, till, with the form of godliness, (much +of it, up doubt, objectionable, but much of it wholesome), the power in +a considerable degree expired too. + +Accordingly, our churches are now closed in the week-days, for we are +too busy to repair to them; our politicians crying out, with Pharaoh, +"Ye are idle, ye are idle; therefore would ye go and do sacrifice to the +Lord." Our cathedrals, it is true, are still open; but where are the +worshippers? Instead of entering in, the citizen avails himself of the +excellent clock which is usually attached to them, sets his watch, and +hastens upon 'Change, where the congregation is numerous and punctual, +and where the theological speculations are apt to run in Shylock's vein +pretty exclusively. If a church will answer, then, indeed, a joint-stock +company springs up; and a church is raised with as much alacrity, and +upon the same principles, as a play-house. The day when the people +brought their gifts is gone by. The "_solid temples_," that heretofore +were built as if not to be dissolved till doomsday, have been succeeded +by thin emaciated structures, bloated out by coats of flatulent plaster, +and supported upon cast-metal pegs, which the courtesy of the times +calls pillars of the church. The painted windows, that admitted a dim +religious light, have given place to the cheap house-pane and dapper +green curtain. The front, with its florid reliefs and capacious crater, +has dwindled into a miserable basin. + + * * * * * + + +AN ARTIST'S FAME. + + + _Painter._ Let none call happy one whose art's deep source + They know not--or what thorny paths he trode + To reach its dazzling goal! + _Marquis._ What dost thou mean? + _Painter._ I'll seek a simile--Some gorgeous cloud + Oft towers in wondrous majesty before ye-- + It bathes its bosom in pure ether's flood, + Evening twines crowns of roses for its head, + And for its mantle weaves a fringe of gold; + Ye gaze on it admiring and enchanted-- + Yet know not whence its airy structure rose! + If it breathe incense from some holy altar, + Or earth-born vapours from the teeming soil, + When rain from Heav'n descends--if fiery breath + Of battle, or the darkly rolling smoke + Of conflagration, thus its giant towers + Pile on the sky--ye care not, but enjoy + Its form and glory,--Thus it is with art! + Whether 'twere born amid the sunny depths + Of a glad heart entranced in mutual love-- + Or, likelier far, alas! the sorrowing child + Of restless anguish, and baptized in tears-- + Or wrung from Genius even amid the throes + Of worse than death--Ye gaze and ye admire, + Nor pause to ask what it hath cost the heart + That gave it being! + + _Blackwood's Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + Romance is ever readier + To make unbidden sacrifice, than rear + The sober edifice of mutual bliss! Ibid. + + * * * * * + + +TRUE PATRIOTISM. + + +Promote religion--protect public morals--repress vice and +infidelity--keep the different classes of the community in strict +subordination to each other--and cherish the principles, feelings, and +habits, which give stability, beauty, and happiness to society. + +Descend from the clouds of political economy, and travel in safety on +your mother earth; cast away the blinding spectacles of the +philosophers, and use the eyes you have received from nature. Practise +the vulgar principles, that it is erroneous to ruin immense good +markets, to gain petty bad ones--that you cannot carry on losing +trade--that you cannot live without profit--and that you cannot eat +without income. And pule no more about individual economy, but eat, and +drink, and enjoy yourselves, like your fathers. What! in these days of +free trade, to tell the hypochondriacal Englishman that the foaming +tankard, the honest bottle of port, and the savoury sirloin, must be +prohibited articles! You surely wish us to hang and drown ourselves by +wholesale.--Ibid. + + * * * * * + + +THE FORGET-ME-NOT. + + +The following account of the origin of the name "Forget-me-not," is +extracted from Mill's _History of Chivalry_, and was communicated to +that work by Dr. A.T. Thomson:--"Two lovers were loitering on the margin +of a lake on a fine summer's evening, when the maiden espied some of the +flowers of Myosòtis growing on the water, close to the bank of an +island, at some distance from the shore. She expressed a desire to +possess them, when the knight, in the true spirit of chivalry, plunged +into the water, and swimming to the spot, cropped the wished for plant, +but his strength was unable to fulfill the object of his achievement, +and feeling that he could not regain the shore, although very near it, +he threw the flowers upon the bank, and casting a last affectionate look +upon his lady-love, he cried 'Forget me not!' and was buried in the +waters."--_Gardener's Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + +HOME. + + + _Leonhard._ See here what spacious halls: how all around + Us breathes magnificence! + + _Spinarosa._ A princely pile! + But ah! how nobler far its daring site! + It rears its tow'rs amid these rocks and glaciers, + As if proud man were in his might resolved + To add _his_ rock to those that spurn the vale. + + _Leon._ All here is beautiful! but 'tis not home! + 'Tis true I was a child scarce eight years old + When led by Pietro into Italy-- + Yet are my home's green lineaments as fresh + As when first painted on my infant soul; + This castle bears them not.--My home lay hid + In the deep bosom of gigantic oaks, + That o'er its roof their guardian shadows flung. + Nor towers, nor gates, nor pinnacles, were there; + With lowly thatch and humble wicket graced, + Smiling, yet solitary, did it stand. + + _Blackwood's Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + +IRISH SONGS. + + +It is impossible to conceive any trash more despicable than the slang +songs which are current amongst the common people in Ireland; and this +is the more to be lamented, as the extreme susceptibility of the people +makes them liable to be easily moved to either good or evil by their +songs. Even the native Irish songs, as we are informed in Miss Brooke's +_Reliques of Irish Poetry_, are sadly interpolated with nonsensical +passages, which have been introduced to supply the place of lost or +forgotten lines; and of humorous lyrical poetry, she says there was none +in the language worth translating. Moore has given to the beautiful airs +of Ireland beautiful words; but Moore is a poet for ladies and +gentlemen, not for mankind. It may be, that there are not materials in +Ireland, for a kindred spirit to that of Burns to work upon; but the +fact is but too true, that the _poor_ Irishman has no song of even +decent ability, to cheer his hours of merriment, or soothe the period of +his sadness. Honour and undying praise be upon the memory of Burns, who +has left to us those songs which, like the breath of nature, from whose +fresh inspiration they were caught, are alike refreshing to the monarch +and the clown!--Ibid. + + * * * * * + + +A REAL MIRACLE. + + +The _fable_ of Dr. Southey's _Pilgrim of Compostella_, is as follows:-- + +A family set forth from Aquitaine to visit the shrine of St. James, at +Compostella, whither, according to the Catholic faith, the decapitated +body of that saint was conveyed from Palestine, (miraculously of +course,) in a ship of marble. At a certain small town by the way, their +son Pierre is tempted by the innkeeper's daughter. Like a second Joseph, +he resists the immodest damsel; like Potiphar's wife, she converts her +love to hate, and accuses the virtuous youth of a capital crime. Her +false oaths prevail, and he is condemned to the gallows. Rejoicing in +his martyred innocence, he exhorts his parents to pursue their +pilgrimage, and pray for the peace of his soul. Sorrowing, they proceed, +and returning, find their son hanging by the neck alive, and singing +psalms--in no actual pain--but naturally desirous to be freed from his +extraordinary state of suspended animation. They repair to the chief +magistrate of the town, by whose authority the youth was executed--find +his worship at dinner--relate the wonderful preservation of their +son--and request that he may be restored. The magistrate is incredulous, +and declares that he would sooner believe that the fowls on which he was +dining would rise again in full feather. The miracle is performed. The +cock and hen spring from the ocean of their own gravy, clacking and +crowing, with all appurtenances of spur, comb, and feather. Pierre, of +course, is liberated, and declared innocent. The cock and hen become +objects of veneration--live in a state of chastity--and are finally +translated--leaving just two eggs, from which arise another immaculate +cock and hen. The breed is perhaps still in existence, and time hath +been, that a lucrative trade was carried on in their feathers!!!--Ibid.. + + * * * * * + + + +THE GATHERER. + + + A snapper up of unconsidered trifles. + SHAKSPEARE. + + * * * * * + +Of Hogarth's first attempt at satire, the following story is related by +Nichols, who had it from one of Hogarth's fellow workmen. "One summer +Sunday, during his apprenticeship, he went with three companions to +Highgate, and the weather being warm and the way dusty, they went into a +public house, and called for ale. There happened to be other customers +in the house, who to free drinking added fierce talking, and a quarrel +ensued. One of them on receiving a blow with the bottom of a quart pot, +looked so ludicrously rueful, that Hogarth snatched out a pencil and +sketched him as he stood. It was very like and very laughable, and +contributed to the restoration of order and good humour." + + * * * * * + + +THE "GOOD BOY" LOVER. + + +"When I was a lad," said a facetious gentleman to the recorder of the +anecdote, "I was, or rather fancied myself to be, desperately in love +with a very charming young lady. Dining at her parents' house one day, I +was unfortunately helped to the gizzard of a chicken, attached to one of +the wings. Aware, like most '_good boys_' that it was extremely +ungenteel to leave anything upon my plate, and being over anxious to act +with etiquette and circumspection in this interesting circle, I, as a +'good boy' wished strictly to conform myself to the rules of good +breeding. But the _gizzard_ of a fowl! Alas! it was impossible! how +unfortunate! I _abhorred_ it! No, I could not either for _love_ or money +have swallowed such a thing! So, after blushing, playing with the +annoyance, and casting many a side-long glance to see if I was observed, +I contrived at length to roll it from my plate into my _mouchoir_, which +I had placed on my knees purposely for its reception; the next minute +all was safely lodged in my pocket. Conversing with the object of my +affections, during the evening, in a state of nervous forgetfulness, I +drew forth my handkerchief, and in a superb flourish, out flew the +GIZZARD! Good heavens! my fair one stared, coloured, laughed; I was +petrified; away flew my ecstatic dreams; and out of the house I flung +myself without one '_au revoir_,' but with a consciousness of the truth +of that delectable ballad which proclaims, that 'Love _has_ EYES!!' I +thought no more of love in that quarter, believe me!" M.L.B. + + * * * * * + + +ADMIRAL RODNEY. + + +During the heat of the memorable battles with Count de Grasse, of April +9th and 12th, 1782, the gallant Rodney desired his young aid-de-camp +(Mr. Charles Dashwood[9]) to make him a glass of lemonade, the +ingredients for which were at hand. Not having any thing to stir it with +but a knife, already discoloured by the cutting of the lemon, Sir George +coolly said, on Mr. Dashwood presenting it to him, "Child, that may do +for a midshipman, but not for an admiral--take it yourself, and send my +servant to me." C.C. + + [9] Afterwards advanced to the rank of post captain, in 1801. + + * * * * * + + +EXPRESSIVE WORDS. + + +I knew very well a French Chevalier, who on coming to England, applied +himself with amazing ardour to the study of our language, and his +remarks upon it, if not always very acute were at least entertaining. +One day, reading aloud an English work, he stopped at the word SPLASH; +expressed himself highly delighted with it, as a term, which minutely +described the thing meant; then repeating it many times with marked +pleasure, and a strong sibillation, he added, "No! no! dere is noting at +all, noting in _my_ language dat de same would be like _splash_!" +Perhaps the following sentence from the satire of a notorious wit in +Elizabeth's reign, is a fair specimen of those expressive words which +_paint_, the object of which they speak:--"To which place, Gabriel came, +_ruffling_ it out, hufty-tufty, in his new suit of velvet." The man was +vain; the writer has made him a _peacock_. M.L.B. + + * * * * * + +I would no more bring a new work out in summer than I would sell pork in +the dog-days.--_Bookseller in Cit. World._ + + * * * * * + +LIMBIRD'S EDITIONS. + +CHEAP and POPULAR WORKS published at the MIRROR OFFICE in the Strand, +near Somerset House. + +The ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS, Embellished with nearly 150 +Engravings. Price 6s. 6d. boards. + +The TALES of the GENII. Price 2s. + +The MICROCOSM: By the Right Hon. G. CANNING. &c. Price 2s. + +PLUTARCH'S LIVES, with Fifty Portraits, 2 vols. price 13s. boards. + +COWPER'S POEMS, with 12 Engravings, price 3s. 6d. boards. + +COOK'S VOYAGES, 2 vols. price 8s. boards. + +The CABINET of CURIOSITIES: or, WONDERS of the WORLD DISPLAYED. Price +5s. boards. + +BEAUTIES of SCOTT. 2 vols. price 7s. boards. + +The ARCANA of SCIENCE for 1828. Price 4s. 6d. + +*** Any of the above Works can be purchased in Parts. + +GOLDSMITH'S ESSAYS. Price 8d. +DR. FRANKLIN'S ESSAYS. Price 1s. 2d. +BACON'S ESSAYS Price 8d. +SALMAGUNDI. Price 1s. 8d. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, +and Instruction, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, NO. 382 *** + +***** This file should be named 11462-8.txt or 11462-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/4/6/11462/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Marvin A. Hodges, David King, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction + Vol. 14, Issue 382, July 25, 1829 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: March 5, 2004 [EBook #11462] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, NO. 382 *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Marvin A. Hodges, David King, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + +</pre> + +<hr class="full" /> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page49" name="page49"></a>[pg +49]</span> +<h1>THE MIRROR<br /> +OF<br /> +LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.</h1> +<hr class="full" /> +<table width="100%" summary="Volume, Number, and Date"> +<tr> +<td align="left"><b>Vol. 14. No. 382.]</b></td> +<td align="center"><b>SATURDAY, JULY 25, 1829</b></td> +<td align="right"><b>[PRICE 2d.</b></td> +</tr> +</table> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>POPE'S TEMPLE, AT HAGLEY</h2> +<div class="figure" style="width:80%;"><a href= +"images/382-1.png"><img width="100%" src="images/382-1.png" alt= +"Pope's Temple, at Hagley" /></a></div> +<p>Reader! are you going out of town "<i>in search of the +picturesque</i>"—if so, bend your course to the classic, the +consecrated ground of HAGLEY! think of LYTTLETON, POPE, SHENSTONE, +and THOMSON, or refresh your memory from the "<i>Spring</i>" of the +latter, as—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Courting the muse, thro' <i>Hagley</i> Park thou strayst.</p> +<p>Thy <i>British Tempe</i>! There along the dale,</p> +<p>With woods o'erhung, and shagg'd with mossy rocks,</p> +<p>Whence on each hand the gushing waters play,</p> +<p>And down the rough cascade white dashing fall,</p> +<p>Or gleam in lengthen'd vista through the trees,</p> +<p>You silent steal; or sit beneath the shade</p> +<p>Of solemn oaks, that tuft the swelling mounts</p> +<p>Thrown graceful round by Nature's careless hand,</p> +<p>And pensive listen to the various voice</p> +<p>Of rural peace; the herds, the flocks, the birds,</p> +<p>The hollow-whispering breeze, the 'plaint of rills,</p> +<p>That, purling down amid the twisted roots</p> +<p>Which creep around their dewy murmurs shake</p> +<p>On the sooth'd ear.</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>Such is the fervid language in which the Poet of the year +invoked</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"LYTTLETON, the friend!"</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>Yet these lines will kindle the delight and reverence of every +lover of Nature, in common with the effect of the <i>Seasons</i> on +the reader, who "wonders that he never saw before what Thomson +shows him, and that he never yet has felt what Thomson +impresses."<a id="footnotetag1" name="footnotetag1"></a><a href= +"#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a></p> +<p>But we quit these nether flights of song to describe the +locality of Hagley Park, of whose beauties our Engraving is but a +mere vignette, and in comparison like holding a candle to the sun. +The village of Hagley is a short distance from Bromsgrove, in +Worcestershire, whence the pleasantest route to the park is to turn +to the right on the Birmingham road, which cuts the grounds into +two unequal parts. The house is a plain and even simple, yet +classical edifice. Whately, in his work on Gardening, describes it +as surrounded by a lawn, of fine uneven ground, and diversified +with large clumps, little groups, and single trees; it is open in +front, but covered on one side by the Witchbury hills; on the other +side, and behind by the eminences in the park, which are high and +steep, and all overspread with a lofty hanging wood. The lawn +pressing to the front, or creeping up the slopes of three hills, +and sometimes winding along glades <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page50" name="page50"></a>[pg 50]</span> into the depth of the +wood, traces a beautiful outline to a sylvan scene, already rich to +luxuriance in massive foliage, and stately growth. The present +house was built by the first Lord Lyttleton, not on, but near to, +the site of the ancient family mansion, a structure of the +sixteenth century. Admission may be obtained on application to the +housekeeper; and for paintings, carving, and gilding, Hagley is one +of the richest show-houses in the kingdom.<a id="footnotetag2" +name="footnotetag2"></a><a href="#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a></p> +<p>Much as the visiter will admire the refined taste displayed +within the mansion, his admiration will be heightened by the +classic taste in which the grounds are disposed. A short distance +from the house, embosomed in trees, stands the church, built in the +time of Henry III.; with a sublime Gothic arch, richly painted +windows, and a ceiling fretted with the heraldic fires of the +Lyttleton family, whose tombs are placed on all sides; among them, +the resting-place of the gay poet is distinguished by the following +plain inscription:—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>This unadorned stone was placed here</p> +<p>By the particular desire and express</p> +<p>Directions of the Right Honourable</p> +<p class="i2">GEORGE, LORD LYTTLETON,</p> +<p>Who died August 22, 1773, aged 64.</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>Leaving the church we ascend to the crest of a hill, on which +stands the Prince of Wales's Pillar. From this point, the view is +inexpressibly beautiful, in which may be seen an octagon seat +sacred to the memory of Thomson, and erected on the brow of a +verdant steep, his favourite spot. In the foreground is a gently +winding valley; on the rising hill beyond is a noble wood, whilst +to the right the open country fades in the distance; on the left +the Clent hills appear, and a dusky antique tower stands just below +them at the extremity of the wood; whilst in the midst of it, we +can discern the <i>Doric temple sacred to Pope</i>. This exquisite +gem of the picturesque is represented in our Engraving.</p> +<p>In the adjoining grove of oaks is the antique tower; in a +beautiful amphitheatre of wood, an Ionic rotunda; and in an +embowering grove a Palladian bridge, with a light airy portico. +Here on a fine lawn is the urn inscribed to Pope, mentioned by +Shenstone:</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Here Pope! ah, never must that towering mind</p> +<p>To his loved haunts, or dearer friend return;</p> +<p>What art, what friendship! oh! what fame resign'd;</p> +<p>In yonder glade I trace his mournful urn.</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>At the end of the valley, in an obscure corner is a hermitage, +composed of roots and moss, whence we look down on a piece of water +in the hollow, thickly shaded with tall trees, (<i>see the +engraving</i>,) over which is a fine view of distant landscape. +This spot is the extremity of the park, and the Clent hills rise in +all their wild irregularity, immediately behind it.</p> +<p>We have not space to describe, or rather to abridge from +Whately's beautiful description, a tithe of the classic +embellishments of Hagley. Shenstone as well as Pope has here his +votive urn. Ivied ruin, temple, grotto, statue, fountain, and +bridge; the proud portico and the humble rustic seat, alternate +amidst these ornamental charms, and never were Nature and art more +delightfully blended than in the beauties of Hagley. Here Pope, +Shenstone, and Thomson<a id="footnotetag3" name= +"footnotetag3"></a><a href="#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a> passed +many hours of calm contemplation and poetic ease, amidst the +hospitalities of the noble owner of Hagley. To think of their +kindred spirits haunting its groves, and their imaginative +contrivances of votive temples, urns, and tablets, and to combine +them with these enchanting scenes of Nature, is to realize all that +Poets have sung of Arcadia of old. Happy! happy life for the man of +letters; what a retreat must your bowers have afforded from the +common-place perplexities of every-day life: Alas! the picture is +almost too sunny for sober contemplation.</p> +<hr /> +<p><i>In part of the impression of our last Number, we stated the +architect of the front of</i> Apsley House, <i>to be Sir Jeffrey +Wyatville, instead of Mr. Benjamin Wyatt, by whom the design was +furnished, and under whose superintendence this splendid +improvement has been executed. Mr. B. Wyatt is likewise the +architect of the superb mansion built for the late Duke of +York.</i></p> +<hr /> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page51" name="page51"></a>[pg +51]</span> +<h3>INGRATITUDE.</h3> +<h3>A DRAMATIC SKETCH.</h3> +<h4>(<i>For the Mirror</i>.)</h4> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Hence, faithless wretch! thou hast forgot the hand</p> +<p>That sav'd thee from oppression—from the grasp</p> +<p>Of want. I fed you once—then you was poor:</p> +<p>Even as I am now. Yet from the store</p> +<p>Of your abundance, you refuse to grant</p> +<p>The veriest trifle. May the bounty</p> +<p>Of that great God who gave you what you have</p> +<p>Ne'er from you flow. You have forgot me, sir,</p> +<p>But I remember ere I left this land,</p> +<p>By way of traffic for the western world,</p> +<p>I had a favourite, faithful dog,</p> +<p>Who for the kindnesses I pour'd upon him</p> +<p>Would fawn upon me: not in flattery,</p> +<p>But in a sort that spoke his generous nature.</p> +<p>Lasting as memory,</p> +<p>Faster than friendship—deeper than the wave</p> +<p>Is the affection of a mindless brute.</p> +<p>In a few hours (for I can almost see</p> +<p>The cot wherein these travell'd bones were cradled,)</p> +<p>I shall have ended an untoward enterprize,</p> +<p>And if that honest creature I have told you of</p> +<p>Still breathes this vital air, and will not know me,</p> +<p>May hospitality keep closed her gates</p> +<p>Against me, till I find a home within</p> +<p>The grave.<span style="margin-left:3em">CYMBELINE.</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<hr /> +<h3>M. BOILEAU TO HIS GARDENER.</h3> +<h3>IMITATED</h3> +<h4>(<i>For the Mirror</i>.)</h4> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Industrious man, thou art a prize to me,</p> +<p>The best of masters—surely born for thee;</p> +<p>Thou keeper art of this my rural seat,<a id="footnotetag4" name= +"footnotetag4"></a><a href="#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a></p> +<p>Kept at my charge to keep my garden neat;</p> +<p>To train the woodbine and to crop the yew—</p> +<p>In th' art of gard'ning equall'd p'rhaps by few.</p> +<p>O! could I cultivate my barren soul,</p> +<p>As thou this garden canst so well control;</p> +<p>Pluck up each brier and thorn, by frequent toil,</p> +<p>And clear the mind as thou canst cleanse the soil<a id= +"footnotetag5" name="footnotetag5"></a><a href= +"#footnote5"><sup>5</sup></a></p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>But now, my faithful servant, Anthony,</p> +<p>Just speak, and tell me what you think of me;</p> +<p>When through the day amidst the gard'ning trade</p> +<p>You bear the wat'ring pot, or wield the spade,</p> +<p>And by your labour cause each part to yield,</p> +<p>And make my garden like a fruitful field;</p> +<p>What say you, when you see me musing there</p> +<p>With looks intent as lost in anxious care,</p> +<p>And sending forth my sentiments in words</p> +<p>That oft intimidate the peaceful birds?</p> +<p>Dost thou not then suppose me void of rest,</p> +<p>Or think some demon agitates my breast?</p> +<p>Yon villagers, you know, are wont to say</p> +<p>Thy master's fam'd for writing many a lay,</p> +<p>'Mongst other matters too he's known to sing</p> +<p>The glorious acts of our victorious king;<a id="footnotetag6" +name="footnotetag6"></a><a href="#footnote6"><sup>6</sup></a></p> +<p>Whose martial fame resounds thro' every town;</p> +<p>Unparallel'd in wisdom and renown.</p> +<p>You know it well—and by this garden wall</p> +<p>P'rhaps Mons and Namur<a id="footnotetag7" name= +"footnotetag7"></a><a href="#footnote7"><sup>7</sup></a> at this +instant fall.</p> +<p>What shouldst thou think if haply some should say</p> +<p>This noted chronicler's employ'd to-day</p> +<p>In writing something new—and thus his time</p> +<p>Devotes to thee—to paint his thoughts in rhyme?</p> +<p>My master, thou wouldst say, can ably teach,</p> +<p>And often tells me more than parsons preach;</p> +<p>But still, methinks, if he was forc'd to toil</p> +<p>Like me each day—to cultivate the soil,</p> +<p>To prune the trees, to keep the fences round;</p> +<p>Reduce the rising to the level ground,</p> +<p>Draw water from the fountains near at hand</p> +<p>To cheer and fertilize the thirsty land,</p> +<p>He would not trade in trifles such as these,</p> +<p>And drive the peaceful linnets from the trees.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Now, Anthony, I plainly see that you</p> +<p>Suppose yourself the busiest of the two;</p> +<p>But ah, methinks you'd tell a diff'rent tale</p> +<p>If two whole days beyond the garden pale</p> +<p>You were to leave the mattock and the spade</p> +<p>And all at once take up the poet's trade:</p> +<p>To give a manuscript a fairer face,</p> +<p>And all the beauty of poetic grace;</p> +<p>Or give the most offensive flower that blows</p> +<p>Carnation's sweets, and colours of the rose;</p> +<p>And change the homely language of the clown</p> +<p>To suit the courtly readers of the town—</p> +<p>Just such a work, in fact, I mean to say,</p> +<p>As well might please the critics of the day!</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Soon from this work returning tir'd and lean,</p> +<p>More tann'd than though you'd twenty summers seen,</p> +<p>The wonted gard'ning tools again you'd take</p> +<p>Your long-accustom'd shovel and your rake;</p> +<p>And then exclaiming, you would surely say,</p> +<p>'Twere better far to labour many a day</p> +<p>Than e'er attempt to take such useless flights,</p> +<p>And vainly strive to gain poetic heights,</p> +<p>Impossible to reach—I might as soon</p> +<p>Ascend at once and land upon the moon!</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Come, Anthony, attend: let me explain</p> +<p>(Although an idler) weariness and pain.</p> +<p>Man's ever rack'd and restless, here below,</p> +<p>And at his best estate must labour know.</p> +<p>Then comes fatigue. The Sisters nine may please</p> +<p>And promise poets happiness and ease;</p> +<p>But e'en amidst those trees, that cooling shade,</p> +<p>That calm retreat for them expressly made,</p> +<p>No rest they find—there rich effusions flow</p> +<p>In all the measures bardic numbers know:</p> +<p>Thus on their way in endless toil they move,</p> +<p>And spend their strength in labours that they love.</p> +<p>Beneath the trees the bards the muses haunt,</p> +<p>And with incessant toil are seen to pant;</p> +<p>But still amidst their pains, they pleasure find</p> +<p>An ample entertainment for the mind.</p> +<p>But, after all, 'tis plain enough to me,</p> +<p>A man unstudious, must unhappy be;</p> +<p>Who deems a dull, inactive life the best,</p> +<p>A life of laziness, a life of rest;</p> +<p>A willing slave to sloth—and well I know,</p> +<p>He suffers much who nothing has to do.</p> +<p>His mind beclouded, he obscurely sees,</p> +<p>And free from busy life imagines ease.</p> +<p>All sinful pleasures reign without control,</p> +<p>And passions unsubdued pollute the soul;</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page52" name="page52"></a>[pg +52]</span> +<p>He thus indulges in impure desires,</p> +<p>Which long have lurk'd within, like latent fires:</p> +<p>At length they kindle—burst into a flame</p> +<p>On him they sport—sad spectacle of shame.</p> +<p>Remorse ensues—with every fierce disease.</p> +<p>The stone and cruel gout upon him seize;</p> +<p>To quell their rage some fam'd physicians come</p> +<p>Who scarce less cruel, crowd the sick man's room;</p> +<p>On him they operate—these learned folk,</p> +<p>Make him saw rocks, and cleave the solid oak;<a id= +"footnotetag8" name="footnotetag8"></a><a href= +"#footnote8"><sup>8</sup></a></p> +<p>And gladly would the man his fate resign</p> +<p>For such an humble, happy state as thine.</p> +<p>Be thankful, Anthony, and think with me,</p> +<p>The poor hardworking man may happier be</p> +<p>If blest with strength, activity, and health,</p> +<p>Than those who roll in luxury and wealth.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Two truths important, I proceed to tell,</p> +<p>One is a truth, you surely know full well;</p> +<p>That labour is essential here below</p> +<p>To man—a source of weal instead of woe:</p> +<p>The other truth, few words suffice to prove,</p> +<p>No blame attaches to the life I love.</p> +<p>So still attend—but I must say no more,</p> +<p>I plainly see, you wish my sermon o'er;</p> +<p>You gape, you close your eyes, you drop your chin,</p> +<p>Again methinks I'd better not begin.</p> +<p>Besides, these melons seem to wish to know</p> +<p>The reason why they are neglected so;</p> +<p>And ask if yonder village holds its feast</p> +<p>And thou awhile art there detained a guest,</p> +<p>While all the flowery tribes make sad complaint.</p> +<p>For want of water they are grown quite faint.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><i>Tipton.</i><span style="margin-left:3em">T.S.A.</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THE SELECTOR, AND LITERARY NOTICES OF <i>NEW WORKS.</i></h2> +<hr /> +<h3>LIVES OF BRITISH PAINTERS, SCULPTORS, AND ARCHITECTS.</h3> +<h4><i>By Allan Cunningham.</i></h4> +<p>This volume is the first of a series of Lives of Artists, and +the fourth number of Murray's <i>Family Library</i>. The author is +a first-rate poet, but it appears that he undertook this task with +some diffidence. We have, however, few artists of literary +attainments, and they are more profitably employed than in +authorship. Little apology was necessary, for of all literary men, +poets are best calculated to write on the Fine Arts: and the genius +of Poetry, Painting, Sculpture, and Music, is often associated in +one mind, in love of the subjects at least, if not in practice.</p> +<p>Prefixed to the "Lives," is a delightful chapter on British Art +before the birth of Hogarth, from which we quote the +following:—</p> +<p>"Poetry, Painting, Sculpture, and Music, are the natural +offspring of the heart of man. They are found among the most +barbarous nations; they flourish among the most civilized; and +springing from nature, and not from necessity or accident, they can +never be wholly lost in the most disastrous changes. In this they +differ from mere inventions; and, compared with mechanical +discoveries, are what a living tree is to a log of wood. It may +indeed be said that the tongue of poetry is occasionally silent, +and the hand of painting sometimes stayed; but this seems not to +affect the ever-living principle which I claim as their +characteristic. They are heard and seen again in their season, as +the birds and flowers are at the coming of spring; and assert their +title to such immortality as the things of earth may claim. It is +true that the poetry of barbarous nations is rude, and their +attempts at painting uncouth; yet even in these we may recognise +the foreshadowings of future excellence, and something of the +peculiar character which, in happier days, the genius of the same +tribe is to stamp upon worthier productions. The future Scott, or +Lawrence, or Chantrey, may be indicated afar-off in the barbarous +ballads, drawings, or carvings, of an early nation. Coarse nature +and crude simplicity are the commencement, as elevated nature and +elegant simplicity are the consummation of art.</p> +<p>"When the Spaniards invaded the palaces of Chili and Peru, they +found them filled with works of art. Cook found considerable beauty +of drawing and skill of workmanship in the ornamented weapons and +war-canoes of the islanders of the South Sea; and in the interior +recesses of India, sculptures and paintings, of no common merit, +are found in every village. In like manner, when Caesar landed +among the barbarians of Britain, he found them acquainted with arts +and arms; and his savage successors, the Saxons, added to +unextinguishable ferocity a love of splendour and a rude sense of +beauty, still visible in the churches which they built, and the +monuments which they erected to their princes and leaders. All +those works are of that kind called ornamental: the graces of true +art, the truth of action and the dignity of sentiment are wanting; +and they seem to have been produced by a sort of mechanical +process, similar to that which creates figures in arras. Art is, +indeed, of slow and gradual growth; like the <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page53" name="page53"></a>[pg 53]</span> oak, it +is long of growing to maturity and strength. Much knowledge of +colour, much skill of hand, much experience in human character, and +a deep sense of light and shade, have to be acquired, to enable the +pencil to embody the conceptions of genius. The artist has to seek +for all this in the accumulated mass of professional knowledge: +which time has gathered for his instruction, and with his best +wisdom, and his happiest fortune, he can only add a little more +information to the common stock, for the benefit of his successors. +In no country has Painting risen suddenly into eminence. While +Poetry takes wing at once, free and unincumbered, she is retarded +in her ascent by the very mechanism to which she must at last owe +at least half her glory. In Britain, Painting was centuries in +throwing off the fetters of mere mechanical skill, and in rising +into the region of genius. The original spirit of England had +appeared in many a noble poem, while the two sister arts were still +servilely employed in preserving incredible legends, in taking the +likeness of the last saint whom credulity had added to the +calendar, and in confounding the acts of the apostles in the +darkness of allegory."</p> +<p>Then follows an outline of early Art in England, in the +embellishment of cathedrals, &c.; among which is the following +notice of one of the earliest of our attempts at historical +portraiture which can be authenticated:—</p> +<p>"It is a Painting on Wood; the figures are less than life, and +represent Henry the Fifth and his relations. It measures four feet +six inches long, by four feet four inches high, and was in the days +of Catholic power the altarpiece of the church of Shene. An angel +stands in the centre, holding in his hands the expanding coverings +of two tents, out of which the king, with three princes, and the +queen, with four princesses, are proceeding to kneel at two altars, +where crosses, and sceptres, and books are lying. They wear long +and flowing robes, with loose hair, and have crowns on their heads. +In the background, St. George appears in the air, combating with +the dragon, while Cleodelinda kneels in prayer beside a lamb. It is +not, indeed, quite certain that this curious work was made during +the reign of Henry the Fifth, but there can be little doubt of its +being painted as early as that of his son."</p> +<p>In the next page we have the following character of an English +artist of about the same period:—</p> +<p>"He was at once architect, sculptor, carpenter, goldsmith, +armourer, jeweller, saddler, tailor, and painter. There is extant, +in Dugdale, a curious example of the character of the times, and a +scale by which we can measure the public admiration of art. It is a +contract between the Earl of Warwick and John Rag, citizen and +tailor, London, in which the latter undertakes to execute the +emblazonry of the earl's pageant in his situation of ambassador to +France. In the tailor's bill, gilded griffins mingle with Virgin +Marys; painted streamers for battle or procession, with the twelve +apostles; and 'one coat for his grace's body, lute with fine gold,' +takes precedence of St. George and the Dragon."</p> +<p>We wish some of the criticism in this chapter had been milder, +and a few of the invectives not so highly charged; some of them +even out-Herod the fury of an article on Painting, in a recent +number of the <i>Edinburgh Review</i>. But we must pass on to +pleasanter matters—as the following poetical +paragraphs:—</p> +<p>"The art of tapestry as well as the art of illuminating books, +aided in diffusing a love of painting over the island. It was +carried to a high degree of excellence. The earliest account of its +appearance in England is during the reign of Henry the Eighth, but +there is no reason to doubt that it was well known and in general +esteem much earlier. The traditional account, that we were +instructed in it by the Saracens, has probably some foundation. The +ladies encouraged this manufacture by working at it with their own +hands; and the rich aided by purchasing it in vast quantities +whenever regular practitioners appeared in the market. It found its +way into church and palace—chamber and hall. It served at +once to cover and adorn cold and comfortless walls. It added +warmth, and, when snow was on the hill and ice in the stream, gave +an air of social snugness which has deserted some of our modern +mansions.</p> +<p>"At first the figures and groups, which rendered this +manufacture popular, were copies of favourite paintings; but, as +taste improved and skill increased, they showed more of originality +in their conceptions, if not more of nature in their forms. They +exhibited, in common with all other works of art, the mixed taste +of the times—a grotesque union of classical and Hebrew +history—of martial life and pastoral repose—of Greek +gods and Romish saints. Absurd as such combinations certainly were, +and destitute of those beauties of form and delicate gradations and +harmony of colour which distinguish paintings worthily <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page54" name="page54"></a>[pg 54]</span> so +called—still when the hall was lighted up, and living faces +thronged the floor, the silent inhabitants of the walls would seem, +in the eyes of our ancestors, something very splendid. As painting +rose in fame, tapestry sunk in estimation. The introduction of a +lighter and less massive mode of architecture abridged the space +for its accommodation, and by degrees the stiff and fanciful +creations of the loom vanished from our walls. The art is now +neglected. I am sorry for this, because I cannot think meanly of an +art which engaged the heads and hands of the ladies of England, and +gave to the tapestried hall of elder days fame little inferior to +what now waits on a gallery of paintings."</p> +<p>Passing over Holbein, Sir Antonio Moore, Vandyke, Lely, Kneller, +and Thornhill, we come to the lives of +Hogarth—Wilson—Reynolds and Gainsborough—from +which we select a few characteristic anecdotes and sketches. In +noticing Hogarth's early life, Mr. Cunningham has thrown some +discredit on a book, which on its publication, made not a little +chat among artists:—</p> +<p>"Of those early days I find this brief notice in Smith's Life of +Nollekens the sculptor. 'I have several times heard Mr. Nollekens +observe, that he had frequently seen Hogarth, when a young man, +saunter round Leicester Fields with his master's sickly child +hanging its head over his shoulder.' It is more amusing to read +such a book than safe to quote it. Hogarth had ceased to have a +master for seventeen years, was married to Jane Thornhill, kept his +carriage, and was in the full blaze of his reputation, when +Nollekens was born."</p> +<p>Among Hogarth's early labours are his Illustrations of Hudibras, +published in 1726. These were seventeen plates; and we have lately +seen in the possession of Mr. Britton, the architect, eleven +original paintings illustrative of Butler's witty poem, and +attributed to Hogarth.</p> +<p>From the notices of Hogarth's portraits we select the +following:—</p> +<p>"Hogarth's Portrait of Henry Fielding, executed after death from +recollection, is remarkable as being the only likeness extant of +the prince of English novelists. It has various histories. +According to Murphy, Fielding had made many promises to sit to +Hogarth, for whose genius he had a high esteem, but died without +fulfilling them; a lady accidentally cut a profile with her +scissars, which recalled Fielding's face so completely to Hogarth's +memory, that he took up the outline, corrected and finished it and +made a capital likeness. The world is seldom satisfied with a +common account of any thing that interests it—more especially +as a marvellous one is easily manufactured. The following, then, is +the second history. Garrick, having dressed himself in a suit of +Fielding's clothes, presented himself unexpectedly before the +artist, mimicking the step, and assuming the look of their deceased +friend. Hogarth was much affected at first, but, on recovering, +took his pencil, and drew the portrait. For those who love a +soberer history, the third edition is ready. Mrs. Hogarth, when +questioned concerning it, said, that she remembered the affair +well; her husband began the picture—and finished it—one +evening in his own house, and sitting by her side.</p> +<p>"Captain Coram, the projector of the Foundling Hospital, sat for +his portrait to Hogarth, and it is one of the best he ever painted. +There is a natural dignity and great benevolence expressed in a +face which, in the original, was rough and forbidding. This worthy +man, having laid out his fortune and impaired his health in acts of +charity and mercy, was reduced to poverty in his old age. An +annuity of a hundred pounds was privately purchased, and when it +was presented to him, he said, 'I did not waste the wealth which I +possessed in self-indulgence or vain expense, and am not ashamed to +own that in my old age I am poor.'</p> +<p>"The last which I shall notice of this class of productions, is +the portrait of the celebrated demagogue John Wilkes. This singular +performance originated in a quarrel with that witty libertine, and +his associate Churchill the poet: it immediately followed an +article, from the pen of Wilkes, in the North Briton, which +insulted Hogarth as a man, and traduced him as an artist. It is so +little of a caricature, that Wilkes good humouredly observes +somewhere in his correspondence, 'I am growing every day more and +more like my portrait by Hogarth.' The terrible scourge of the +satirist fell bitterly upon the personal and moral deformities of +the man. Compared with his chastisement the hangman's whip is but a +proverb, and the pillory a post of honour. He might hope oblivion +from the infamy of both; but from Hogarth there was no escape. It +was little indeed that the artist had to do, to brand and emblazon +him with the vices of his nature—but with how much +discrimination that little is done! He took up the correct +portrait, which Walpole upbraids him with skulking into a court of +law to obtain, and in a few <span class="pagenum"><a id="page55" +name="page55"></a>[pg 55]</span> touches the man sank, and the +demon of hypocrisy and sensuality sat in his stead. It is a fiend, +and yet it is Wilkes still. It is said that when he had finished +this remarkable portrait, the former friendship of Wilkes overcame +him, and he threw it into the fire, from which it was saved by the +interposition of his wife."</p> +<p>All the criticisms on Hogarth's <i>moral</i> pictures have an +air of originality and freshness of mind, which is so attractive, +as to make us regret that we have not room for them. In proof of +this, only let the reader turn to Mr. Cunningham's remarks on the +Harlot and Rake's Progress, at pages 98 and 99. His descriptions +too of the satirical pictures are extremely ludicrous, and in +effect second only to painting itself. The following anecdote of +the celebrated <i>March to Finchley</i> is curious, though well +known:—</p> +<p>"The original painting was, on the publication of the print, +disposed of by a kind of lottery. Seven shillings and sixpence were +fixed as the price of a print; and every purchaser of a print was +entitled to a chance in the lottery for the picture. Eighteen +hundred and forty-three chances were subscribed for; a hundred and +sixty-seven tickets, which remained, were presented to the +Foundling Hospital. One of the Hospital's tickets drew the desired +prize; and on the same night Hogarth delivered the painting to the +governors, not a little pleased that it was to adorn a public +place."</p> +<p>After quoting Walpole's description of Hogarth's +<i>Sigismunda</i>, in which he says—</p> +<p>"To add to the disgust raised by such vulgar expression, her +fingers were blooded by her lover's heart, that lay before her like +that of a sheep for her dinner;—"</p> +<p>Mr. C. observes, "this is very severe, very pointed, and very +untrue. The Sigismunda of Hogarth is not tearing off her ornaments, +nor are her fingers bloodied by her lover's heart. It is said that +the picture resembled Mrs. Hogarth, who was a very handsome woman; +and to this circumstance Wilkes maliciously alludes in his +unprincipled attack on her husband. 'If the Sigismunda,' says this +polite patriot, 'had a resemblance of any thing ever seen on earth, +or had the least pretence to either meaning or expression, it was +what he had seen, or perhaps made—in real life—his own +wife in an agony of passion; but of what passion no connoisseur +could guess.' That Mrs. Hogarth sat for the picture of Sigismunda +seems to have been known to conscientious John, and this is +supported by that lady's conduct to Walpole. This noble biographer +sent her a copy of his Anecdotes, accompanied by a courtly and +soothing note; but she was so much offended by his description of +the Sigismunda, that she took no notice of his present. The widow +of the artist was poor—and an opinion so ill-natured—so +depreciating—and so untrue, injured the property which she +wished to sell: she loved too the memory of her husband, and +resented in the dignity of silence the malicious and injurious +attack. She considered the present as an insult offered when she +had no one to protect her. I love her pride and reverence her +affection."</p> +<p>Of Hogarth's house at Chiswick, we have the following slight +notice:—</p> +<p>"The time was now approaching when superstition, and folly, and +vice, were to be relieved from the satiric pencil which had awed +them so long—the health of Hogarth began to decline. He was +aware of this, and purchased a small house at Chiswick, to which he +retired during the summer, amusing himself with making slight +sketches and retouching his plates. This house stood till lately on +a very pretty spot; but the demon of building came into the +neighbourhood, choked up the garden, and destroyed the secluded +beauty of Hogarth's cottage. The garden, well stored with walnut, +mulberry, and apple trees, contained a small study, with a +head-stone, placed over a favourite bullfinch, on which the artist +had etched the bird's head and written an epitaph. The cottage +contained many snug rooms, and was but yesterday the residence of a +man of learning and genius, Mr. Cary, the translator of Dante. The +change of scene, the free fresh air, and exercise on horseback, had +for awhile a favourable influence on Hogarth's health; but he +complained that he was no longer able to think with the readiness, +and work with the elasticity of spirit, of his earlier years. The +friends of this artist observed, and lamented, this falling away; +his enemies hastened to congratulate Churchill and Wilkes on the +success of their malevolence; and these men were capable of +rejoicing in the belief that the work of nature was their own."</p> +<p>We are glad to see Mr. Cunningham throwing light on false +conclusions drawn from the eccentricities of genius, as in this +little anecdote:—</p> +<p>"With Dr. Hoadley, who corrected the manuscript of the Analysis +of Beauty for the press, Hogarth was on such <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page56" name="page56"></a>[pg 56]</span> friendly +terms that he was admitted into one of the private theatrical +exhibitions which the doctor loved, and was appointed to perform +along with Garrick and his entertainer, a parody on that scene in +Julius Caesar where the ghost appears to Brutus. Hogarth personated +the spectre, but so unretentive—(we are told)—was his +memory that though the speech consisted only of two lines he was +unable to get them by heart, and his facetious associates wrote +them on an illuminated lantern that he might read them when he came +upon the stage. Such is the way in which anecdotes are +manufactured, and conclusions of absence or imbecility drawn. The +speech of the ghost written on the paper lantern formed part of the +humour of the burlesque. Men, dull in comprehending the +eccentricities of genius, set down what passes their own +understanding to the account of the other's stupidity."</p> +<p>Here our notice of the Life of Hogarth would end, did we not +feel inclined to venture a word or two respecting the omission of +Hogarth's <i>Tailpiece</i>, engraved in Ireland's "Life," and there +described as his last work. With the superstitious tale attached to +it almost every one is familiar; yet some notice ought surely to +have been taken of the story, even had it only been to expose its +falsehood and absurdity.</p> +<p>We find that we have proceeded but half through the volume, so +that Wilson, Reynolds, and Gainsborough must remain for another +number.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY.</h2> +<hr /> +<h3><i>Microscopic Objects.</i></h3> +<p>The most delicate test objects for microscopes are the lines on +the feathers of butterflies or moths' wings, of which there are +many gradations; some easily demonstrated, and others only to be +seen with the most powerful reflectors, and to the best advantage +by the simple and uncondensed light of the lamp. The hair of a +mouse is a very good test object: it is best seen by daylight; the +most difficult parts of which are longitudinal lines in the +transparent part of the hair, which require high powers. The hair +of the bat and seal are also fine tests. The lines on the scales of +the diamond beetle, &c. are excellent opaque proof objects. The +feet of flies are likewise very interesting.</p> +<hr /> +<h3><i>New Lilac Dyes.</i></h3> +<p>Dr. Macculloch has lately produced two fine lilac dyes from +plants of domestic growth, not hitherto applied to this purpose. +One is from the berry of the Portugal laurel, and the other the +black currant. The simplest process with alum is all that is +required for either; and as far as his trials go, the best tint is +produced by the former fruit.</p> +<hr /> +<h3><i>Dirty Windows.</i></h3> +<p>We have frequently remarked small radiant and arborescent +crystallizations on dirty windows in London, and have found them to +consist of <i>sulphate of ammonia</i>. This salt, or at least, +sulphite of ammonia (which becomes sulphate by exposure to air), is +an abundant product of the combustion of coal.</p> +<p><i>Brande's Journal.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3><i>Indigo.</i></h3> +<p>This valuable plant, which gives rise to as great speculation in +India, as hops in England, is much injured by wet weather; although +the rapidity of the growth of plants during much rain, in the +temperature of the tropics, is extraordinary, yet a proportional +deficiency in all that characterizes the vegetable world +necessarily follows. This we find to be the case with all forced +vegetables; and the mildness of the radish of hastened growth, when +contrasted with the highly pungent and almost acrid flavour of the +slowly and gradually advanced one, may be adduced as explanatory of +this observation. Hence, it is practically well known to +manufacturers, that the indigo plant, however fine and luxuriant, +as is the natural result of much rain, is very deficient <i>in +produce</i>, and a similar loss is experienced even if the plant, +without the fall of too much rain, has grown up under cloudy +weather. Sunshine, much and continued sunshine, is essentially +necessary for the proper exercise of those secretory organs by +which this peculiar drug is formed and perfected.</p> +<p>Indigo leaves produce two dyes—blue and yellow; but the +refuse leaves, when boiled for an hour and a half, will render the +water yellow, tinged with green. This water, kept boiling for two +hours, (supplying the loss by evaporation), will, when filtered, +afford a precipitate, which, when dried, will in colour be a +dun-slate, and in quantity perhaps about equal to the blue extract +such leaves have produced. This observation, as it can lead to no +practical advantage, is made for the man of science, rather than +the man of business.—<i>Mr. C. Weston</i>—<i>in +Brande's Journal.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3><i>Chain Bridge.</i></h3> +<p>Mr. Disney has lately erected at his seat the Hyde, Ingatestone, +Essex, a <span class="pagenum"><a id="page57" name="page57"></a>[pg +57]</span> suspension bridge of common chain, which is much cheaper +than either wood or brick. It is fifty feet long, and four feet +wide. The whole cost of material, and workmanship scarcely exceeded +30<i>l</i>. Upon a rough estimate, a wooden bridge of the same span +would have cost from 80<i>l</i>. to 100<i>l</i>., and a high arch +probably from 150<i>l</i>. to 200<i>l</i>. The piers or posts +supporting the chains are of oak, but should they in ten or fifteen +years decay, 10<i>l</i>. in money, and three days in time would set +it up again.—<i>Brande's Jour.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3><i>Stone Roofs.</i></h3> +<p>The Romans employed <i>pumice</i> in building their arched +incombustible roofs. This porous material possessed the additional +advantage, when combined with good cement, of rendering the arched +surface one united petrifaction, opposing (in consequence of its +firm union) little lateral pressure, comparatively, against the +sustaining walls.</p> +<p>Bonomi, the architect, suggests that the principal cause of the +destructiveness of fires in large buildings, is the want of arched +surfaces of incombustible materials. This has been disastrously +exemplified in the destruction of the choir of York Minster, where +the roof of the aisles, which are solidly arched with stone, +suffered no injury; while the choir-roof, although much more raised +above the action of the fire, has been entirely destroyed by +it.</p> +<hr /> +<h3><i>Fossil Saurians.</i></h3> +<p>Several beautiful specimens of fossil saurians, or animals of +the lizard tribe, have, as our scientific readers are aware, been +found at Lyme, in Dorsetshire; but the world would to this day have +remained ignorant of the treasures England possessed, but for the +patient labours of three female pioneers in this service, viz. +<i>Mary Anning</i>, a dealer; <i>Miss Congrieve</i>, and <i>Miss +Philpots</i>, residents, who for years had been collecting and +preserving these bodies from the wreck of the coast; the two last +without any other view than the gratification of a laudable +curiosity, and who, with unequalled liberality, communicated their +collections to every man of science that visited the place; and it +is to liberal minds like theirs, and Miss Bennet's, of Wiltshire +that we owe the first rescuing of these natural gems from the +spoilers. We copy this from a communication of Mr. Cumberland to +Brande's Journal, and are truly pleased to record such amiable +examples of female excellence in scientific pursuits. At Dover, +Portsmouth, and other places we could name, we obtained the best +information respecting the fossils of the coast, from females +resident there, and we need not add that this circumstance imparted +additional interest to our inquiries.</p> +<hr /> +<h3><i>The Zoological Society.</i></h3> +<p>We copy the following from the Report to the Zoological Society, +just published:</p> +<p>"In the Museum in Bruton-street various improvements have taken +place. Additional cases have been erected, wherever space could be +obtained, for the exhibition of the different collections; and two +persons have been in constant employment in preparing and setting +up the more interesting specimens. An assistant has also been +lately added, for the arrangement of the shells, insects, and the +other smaller subjects of the collection; and much care has been +bestowed upon the various departments of comparative anatomy. An +instructive as well as an attractive series in every branch of +zoology, but more particularly in the groups of mammalia, birds, +and insects, has thus been arranged for inspection. A catalogue of +the more important objects in the Museum has been published; and a +more detailed list, accompanied with scientific notices of all the +species, is in preparation.</p> +<p>"The increase in the number of subjects in the collection during +the last year has been considerable, and many of the additions have +been of the utmost importance to science. The whole of these, with +a few exceptions, have been presented by the friends of the +society. A detailed list of these donations which are too numerous +for insertion in this report, is laid upon the table; a reference +to the contents of which will evince that the spirit of liberality, +which laid the foundations of this already valuable collection, has +not decreased.</p> +<p>"A very extensive correspondence has been established with +naturalists of foreign countries, and persons resident in distant +parts, who are anxious to promote the objects of the Society. +Through these channels many valuable acquisitions have been already +received; and it is expected that much of novelty and interest will +continually pour in to increase the attractions of the Museum and +Menagerie.</p> +<p>"The Garden in the Regent's Park is the principal source of +attraction and of expense. The nature of the soil, which consists +of a thick ungrateful clay, increases the cost of every work. The +health of the animals requires that oak <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page58" name="page58"></a>[pg 58]</span> floors be +raised above the surface of the ground; and it is necessary to lay +a thick substratum of dry material under every inclosure and every +walk. These disadvantages are however amply counterbalanced by its +immediate vicinity to the town. The Council have, notwithstanding +the nature of the soil, endeavoured to give to the garden all the +attractions which good cultivation and an abundance of flowers can +afford: and they have to return their thanks for the very liberal +supplies for this purpose which they have occasionally received +from the Horticultural Society. The resort to the garden has far +surpassed the most sanguine expectations of the Council; 112,226 +persons have visited it during the last year."</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THE NOVELIST</h2> +<hr /> +<h3>THE SIEGE OF ABYDOS.</h3> +<h3><i>A Romantic Tale.</i></h3> +<h4>(<i>For the Mirror.</i>)</h4> +<p>The infidel Turks, ever at variance with the Christians, were, +in the reign of king Orchanes, extremely ambitious to possess the +famous Castle of Abydos; and accordingly vast preparations were +made for a close siege. Previous to the arrival of the Turkish army +before the castle, the angelic Sophronia, daughter of the governor +of Abydos, was visited by a dream. She thought, that while walking +out on a beautiful evening, breathing the fragrant air, and gazing +on the brilliant stars, she fell into a loathsome ditch, in which +she remained an hour, terrified, and unable to move. At length, a +handsome youth passed, and she implored him to rescue her. She did +not implore in vain; the young man assisted her out, cleaned her +clothes, and comforted her with pleasant words. They then proceeded +to a delightful bower, put on costly attire, and the youth regaled +the rescued lady with delicious fruits, and sang sonnets on her +personal beauty. Sophronia awoke, sad and disappointed, to find +that her late bliss was only a dream. In a day or two afterwards, +the Turkish army appeared, and a vigorous siege commenced; +nevertheless, the Christians stoutly defended the place, and would, +ultimately, have obliged the enemy to retire, had no intervention +taken place. It happened, unfortunately for the garrison, that a +gallant Turkish captain, in the prime of youth, called Abdurachman +approached so near to the castle gates, as to be plainly observed +by the fair Sophronia, from a small turret window, out of which she +had viewed the besiegers. The lady imagined this captain to be the +person to whom she was so much obliged in her dream, and rejoiced +at the supposed discovery; she hoped that the assailants would be +successful in taking her father's castle that she might have an +opportunity of falling into the hands of the gallant captain she so +greatly admired. The siege still raged with much fury, but was +continually repulsed by the brave Christians, insomuch that the +Turkish general became disconcerted, and in the evening of the +third day after the commencement of the siege, retired to his camp, +about a league distant from the scene of action. Sophronia, +meanwhile, was agitated at the ill success of the Turks, though she +did not despair of seeing the captain again.</p> +<p>She made a confidante of her maid Annis, who undertook, daring +as the attempt was, to steal from the castle to the enemy's camp, +in order to convey a letter from her mistress to Abdurachman. The +intrepid Annis commenced her task in the night: she avoided passing +the sentinels and wardens of the castle, but found her way to a +postern gate, scarcely known to any but herself. She arrived at +Abdurachman's tent; the captain was conversing with his friends +about what the general intended to do on the morrow. Annis desired +to speak with him in private, to which he consented. She then +delivered the letter, which was bound with a lock of the fair +writer's hair, and the astonished Abdurachman perused the +following:—</p> +<p>"Adored Youth,</p> +<p>"I am passionately in love with you, and am sorry that you have +been frustrated in your endeavours to take the castle. As I adore +you beyond measure, and shall certainly take poison if you do not +succeed; I engage to deliver Abydos with all its riches into your +hands, provided you follow my instructions. I advise, that in the +morning by sunrise, you raise the siege and withdraw your whole +army from the castle, and return not again till you hear from +<i>me</i>. My father will be so rejoiced at your departure, that he +will be off his guard, and then I can easily conduct you with +secrecy into the castle."</p> +<p>The delighted Turk very politely answered this remarkable +<i>billet doux</i>, assuring <span class="pagenum"><a id="page59" +name="page59"></a>[pg 59]</span> the fair writer that he was at her +service, and that he would implicitly follow her directions as to +the taking of Abydos. As soon as he had dismissed Annis, he flew +with Sophronia's letter to the general, who, upon reading it, +expressed great astonishment; he determined to raise the siege the +next morning, and resolved to rely fully on the beautiful traitress +for the future success of his enterprise. The next day came, and +the general raised the siege and departed. The Christians were +rejoiced to see it, and in the evening made merry and drunk wine. +The governor's daughter took advantage of the garrison at this +unguarded moment; and fearing to trust again to the sincerity of +her maid, resolved to proceed herself to Abdurachman's tent. Annis +led the way. The night was serene, and the light of the moon showed +the stately castle of Abydos, dark and majestic. No noise was +heard, save the heavy and uniform step of the sentinels, whose +bright arms, as they caught the moon's rays, sparkled against the +gloomy looking building. Little did the inmates, now as tranquil as +the night, dream of being surprised by an enemy; and little did the +brave governor imagine that his own beloved daughter, at this +moment, was treacherously hastening to a merciless foe, with the +intent to conduct him to Abydos! Sophronia reached her lover's tent +weary and faint, for she had walked with great haste. She sank into +the captain's arms, and then, almost inaudibly, informed him that +not a moment was to be lost, and that he must follow her +immediately to the castle.</p> +<p>He obeyed, and having formed a litter for the lady, she was +borne on the shoulders of four stout Turks. When they arrived at +the postern gate, Sophronia told the captain that he, with his men, +must first enter the castle, and then kill the sentinels and +wardens, after which he would be enabled to give admittance to all +his friends. The Turks strictly obeyed the lady, who before the +affair began hastened with Annis to her apartment in order to await +the issue of her plot. The Turks entered the castle by hundreds, +killing all they met, and were soon masters of the place. +Meanwhile, Sophronia and Annis, both dreadfully agitated, heard +from their chamber the dying groans of the poor Christians. +Sometimes the clashing of swords was distinguished, as if a number +of persons were engaged in combat; sometimes the loud lamentations +of women intervened; and sometimes the voices of the conquerors +were alone heard in exultation. At length the door of Sophronia's +room burst open, and Abdurachman rushed in to seize her, while +Annis, nearly dead with terror, calmly submitted to the grasp of a +common soldier who accompanied the captain.</p> +<p>The dreadful scene was acted and over; the Turks were possessors +of the famed castle of Abydos, and Sophronia's father, the +governor, was hanged. Alas! deluded Sophronia! The faithless +Abdurachman, whom she supposed to have seen in a dream, regarded +her not; even lots were cast for her, and she fell to the share of +one whom she did not know. The beautiful Sophronia took poison and +expired.</p> +<p>G.W.N.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.</h2> +<hr /> +<h3>THE LIBERTINE'S CONFESSION.</h3> +<h4><i>In Imitation of the Writers of the Sixteenth +Century.</i></h4> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>I'm sad and sore afraid,</p> +<p class="i2">That fickle, and forsworn,</p> +<p>I've sported life away,</p> +<p class="i2">And now am left forlorn.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Poor fool! I dreamt the years</p> +<p class="i2">Of youth would never fly,</p> +<p>And pleasure's brimming bowl</p> +<p class="i2">Methought could ne'er run dry.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>That woman's bounteous love</p> +<p class="i2">Should e'er wax cold for me!</p> +<p>It seem'd that she must first</p> +<p class="i2">A woman cease to be.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Her fondest smiles I thought</p> +<p class="i2">My rights by charter were;</p> +<p>Her sighs, her tears, forsooth,—</p> +<p class="i2">Whilst I—was free as air.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>I've knelt at many a shrine,</p> +<p class="i2">Of wit and beauty too;</p> +<p>I've lisp'd light vows to all,</p> +<p class="i2">And sworn that all were true.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>My pastime was to gain</p> +<p class="i2">Their young and grateful love,</p> +<p>Then break the heart I won,</p> +<p class="i2">And straight to others rove.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Ah! wild wit, now at last</p> +<p class="i2">Thy vagrancies are o'er;</p> +<p>The ear and gazing eye</p> +<p class="i2">That you enthrall'd before.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>No longer hear or see;</p> +<p class="i2">Whilst those you now would woo,</p> +<p>The time-worn truant slight,</p> +<p class="i2">Nor dream of love with you.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><span style="margin-left:3em"><i>New Monthly +Magazine.</i></span></p> +</div> +</div> +<hr /> +<p>Dublin is a great city. Dublin, as the late Lord +L——th used to say, is "one of the tay-drinkenest, +say-bathinest, car-drivinest places in the world; it flogs for +<i>divarsion.</i>"</p> +<hr /> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page60" name="page60"></a>[pg +60]</span> +<h3>THE TOYMAN IS ABROAD.</h3> +<h4>(<i>Concluded from page 46.</i>)</h4> +<p>There is a point at which the inconvenience of superfluities so +far exceeds their utility, that luxury becomes converted into a +perfect bore. What, for instance, but an annoyance, would be the +most splendid feast, to a man whose stomach is already overladen +with food? Human ingenuity may effect much; and the Romans, by +means of emetics, met this emergency with considerable skill; but +on a more enlarged experience of general history, it must be +conceded, that it is quite impossible to add one more superfluous +meal to those already established by general usage. So also in +matters of dress, ladies' hats must not be larger than the actual +doorways of the country will admit—not at least until time is +allowed for a corresponding increase in our architectural +proportions. With respect to personal ornaments also, ear-rings +must not be so weighty as to tear the lobes of the ears; nor should +a bracelet prevent, by its size, the motions of the arm. "Barbaric +pomp and gold" is a fine thing; but a medallion, as heavy and as +cumbrous as a shield, appended to a lady's bosom, would be any +thing but a luxury. So, in the other extreme, a watch should not be +so small as to render the dial-plate illegible; nor should a shoe +be so tight as to lame its wearer for life. Beauty, it has been +said, should learn to suffer; and there are, I am aware, resources +in vanity, that will reconcile man, and woman too, to martyrdom; +but these resources should not be exhausted wantonly; and in +pleasure, as in economy, there is no benefit in lighting the candle +at both ends. The true philosopher extracts the greatest good out +of every thing; and fools only, as Horace has it, run into one vice +in trying to avoid another. Let not the reader, from these remarks, +suppose that their author is a morose censurer of the times; or +that the least sneer is intended against that idol of all orthodoxy +"things as they are." As a general proposition, nothing can be more +true, than that whatever is established, even in the world of +fashion, is, for the time being, wisest, discreetest, best; and, +woe betide the man that flies too directly in its face.</p> +<p>There is, however, one point upon which I own myself a little +sore; and in which, I do think, superfluities are carried to a +somewhat vicious excess. The point to which I allude, and I beg the +patience of the reader, is the vast increase of superfluities, +which of late years have become primary necessaries in the +appointment of a well-furnished house. Here, indeed, is a +revolution; a revolution more formidable than the French and the +American emancipation put together. We all remember the time when +one tea-table, two or three card-tables, a pier glass, a small +detachment of chairs, with two armed corporals to command them, on +either side the fire-place, with a square piece of carpet in the +centre of the floor, made a very decent display in the drawing, or +(as it was then preposterously called) the dining-room. As yet, +rugs for the hearth were not; and twice a day did Betty go upon her +knees to scour the marble and uncovered slab. In the bedrooms of +those days, a narrow slip of carpet round the bed was the maximum +of woollen integument allowed for protecting the feet of the +midnight wanderer from his couch; and, in the staircases of the +fairest mansions, a like slip meandered down the centre of the +flight of steps. At that time, curtains rose and fell in a line +parallel to the horizon, after the simple plan of the green +siparium of our theatres; and, being strictly confined to the +windows, they never dreamed of displaying themselves in front of a +door. No golden serpents then twisted their voluminous folds across +the entire breadth of the room; nor did richly-carved cods' heads +and shoulders, under the denomination of dolphins, or glittering +spread eagles, with a brass ring in their mouths, support fenestral +draperies, which rival the display of a Waterloo-house +calico-vender. Thus far, I admit, the change is an improvement. +Nay, I could away with ladders to go to bed withal, though many a +time and oft they have broken my shins. I would not either object +to sofas and ottomans, in any reasonable proportion; but protest I +must, and in the strongest terms too, against such a multiplication +and variety of easy chairs, as effectually exclude the possibility +of easy sitting; and against the overweening increase of +spider-tables, that interferes with rectilinear progression. An +harp mounted on a sounding-board, which is a stumbling-block to the +feet of the short-sighted, is, I concede, an absolute necessity; +and a piano-forte, like a coffin, should occupy the centre even of +the smallest given drawing-room—"the court awards it, and the +law doth give it,"—but why multiply footstools, till there is +no taking a single step in safety? An Indian cabinet also, or a +buhl armoire, are, either, or both of them, very fit and becoming; +but it cannot be right to make a broker's <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page61" name="page61"></a>[pg 61]</span> shop of +your best apartment. An ink-stand, as large as a show twelfth-cake, +is just and lawful; ditto, an ornamental escrutoire; and a +<i>nécessaire</i> for the work-table is, if there be meaning +in language, perfectly necessary. These, with an adequate +contingent of musical snuff-boxes, <i>or molu</i> clocks, China +figures, alabaster vases and flower-pots, together with a discreet +superfluity of cut-paper nondescripts, albums, screens, toys, +prints, caricatures, duodecimo classics, new novels and souvenirs, +to cut a dash, and litter the tables, must be allowed to the taste +and refinement of the times. But surely some space should be left +for depositing a coffee-cup, or laying down a useful volume, when +the hand may require to be relieved from its weight, or when it is +proper to take a pinch of snuff, or agreeable to wipe one's +forehead. Josses, beakers, and Sevres' vases have unquestionably +the <i>entrée</i> into a genteel apartment; but they are not +entitled to a monopoly of the <i>locale</i>; nor are Roman +antiquities, or statues even by Canova, justifiable in usurping the +elbow-room of living men and women. Most unfortunately for myself, +I have a very small house, and a wife of the most enlarged taste; +and the disproportion between these blessings is so great, that I +cannot move without the risk of a heavy pecuniary loss by breakage, +and a heavier personal affliction in perpetual imputations of +awkwardness. Then, again, it is no easy matter to put on a smiling +and indifferent countenance, whenever a friend, accustomed to some +latitude of motion, runs, as is often the case, his devastating +chair against a high-priced work of art, or overturns a table laden +with an "infinite thing" in costly <i>bijouterie</i>. I have long +made it a rule to exclude from my visiting-list, or at least not to +let up stairs, ladies who pay their morning calls with a retinue of +children: but the thing is not always possible; and one urchin with +his whip will destroy more in half an hour, than the worth of a +month's average domestic expenditure. Oh! how I hate the little +fidgeting, fingering, dislocating imps! A bull in a china-shop is +innocuous to the most orderly and amenable of them. Why did +Providence make children? and why does not some wise Draconic law +banish them for ever to the nursery?</p> +<p>The general merit of nick-nacks is unquestioned. Ornaments, I +admit, are ornamental; and works of art afford intellectual +amusement of the highest order. But then perfection is their only +merit; and a crack or a flaw destroys all the pleasure of a +sensible beholder. Yet I have not a statue that is not a torso, nor +a Chelsea china shepherdess with her full complement of fingers. I +have not a vase with both its handles, a snuff-box that performs +its waltz correctly, nor a volume of prints that is not dogs-eared, +stained, and ink-spotted. These are serious evils; but they are the +least that flow from a neglect of the maxim which stands at the +head of my paper. Perpend it well, reader; and bear ever in mind +that, in our desires, as in our corporeal structure, it is not +given to man to add a cubit to his stature. I am very tired; so +"dismiss me—enough." <i>New Monthly Magazine.</i></p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>NOTES OF A READER.</h2> +<hr /> +<h3>THE QUARTERLY REVIEW.</h3> +<p>No. 81, of this truly excellent work had not reached us in time +for the close reading which it demands, and our "Notes" from it at +present are consequently few. The first in the number is a powerful +paper on Dr. Southey's <i>Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects +of Society</i>—"a beautiful book," says the reviewer, "full +of wisdom and devotion—of poetry and feeling; conceived +altogether in the spirit of other times, such as the wise men of +our own day may scoff at, but such as Evelyn, or Isaak Walton, or +Herbert would have delighted to honour." The work is in general too +polemical and political for our pages; but we may hereafter be +tempted to carve out a few pastoral pictures of the delightful +country round Keswick, where Dr. Southey resides. The present +Review contains but few extracts to our purpose, and is rather a +paper on the spirit of the <i>Colloquies</i>, than analytical of +their merits. We take, for example, the following admirable passage +on the progress of religious indifference; in which we break off +somewhat hastily, premising that the reader will be induced to turn +to the Review itself for the remainder of the article:—</p> +<p>There was a time, since the worship of images, (and happy would +it have been if the religious habits of the country had thenceforth +stood fixed,) when appropriate texts adorned the walls of the +dwelling-rooms, and children received at night a father's +blessing;—and "let us worship God" was said with solemn air, +by the head of the household; and churches were resorted to daily; +and "the parson in journey" gave notice for prayers in the hall of +the inn—"for <span class="pagenum"><a id="page62" name= +"page62"></a>[pg 62]</span> prayers and provender," quoth he, +"hinder no man;" and the cheerful angler, as he sat under the +willow-tree, watching his quill, trolled out a Christian catch. +"Here we may sit and pray, before death stops our breath;" and the +merchant (like the excellent Sutton, of the Charter House) thought +how he could make his merchandize subservient to the good of his +fellow-citizens and the glory of his God, and accordingly endowed +some charitable, and learned, and religious foundation, worthy of +the munificence of a crowned head; and the grave historian (Lord +Clarendon himself does so) chose a text in his Bible as a motto for +his chapter on politics; and religion, in short, reached unto every +place, and, like Elisha stretched on the dead child, (to use one of +Jeremy Taylor's characteristic illustrations), gave life and +animation to every part of the body politic. But years rolled on; +and the original impulse given at the Reformation, and augmented at +the Rebellion, to undervalue all outward forms, has silently +continued to prevail, till, with the form of godliness, (much of +it, up doubt, objectionable, but much of it wholesome), the power +in a considerable degree expired too.</p> +<p>Accordingly, our churches are now closed in the week-days, for +we are too busy to repair to them; our politicians crying out, with +Pharaoh, "Ye are idle, ye are idle; therefore would ye go and do +sacrifice to the Lord." Our cathedrals, it is true, are still open; +but where are the worshippers? Instead of entering in, the citizen +avails himself of the excellent clock which is usually attached to +them, sets his watch, and hastens upon 'Change, where the +congregation is numerous and punctual, and where the theological +speculations are apt to run in Shylock's vein pretty exclusively. +If a church will answer, then, indeed, a joint-stock company +springs up; and a church is raised with as much alacrity, and upon +the same principles, as a play-house. The day when the people +brought their gifts is gone by. The "<i>solid temples</i>," that +heretofore were built as if not to be dissolved till doomsday, have +been succeeded by thin emaciated structures, bloated out by coats +of flatulent plaster, and supported upon cast-metal pegs, which the +courtesy of the times calls pillars of the church. The painted +windows, that admitted a dim religious light, have given place to +the cheap house-pane and dapper green curtain. The front, with its +florid reliefs and capacious crater, has dwindled into a miserable +basin.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>AN ARTIST'S FAME.</h3> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><i>Painter.</i> Let none call happy one whose art's deep +source</p> +<p>They know not—or what thorny paths he trode</p> +<p>To reach its dazzling goal!</p> +<p><i>Marquis.</i> <span style="margin-left:5em">What dost thou +mean?</span></p> +<p><i>Painter.</i> I'll seek a simile—Some gorgeous cloud</p> +<p>Oft towers in wondrous majesty before ye—</p> +<p>It bathes its bosom in pure ether's flood,</p> +<p>Evening twines crowns of roses for its head,</p> +<p>And for its mantle weaves a fringe of gold;</p> +<p>Ye gaze on it admiring and enchanted—</p> +<p>Yet know not whence its airy structure rose!</p> +<p>If it breathe incense from some holy altar,</p> +<p>Or earth-born vapours from the teeming soil,</p> +<p>When rain from Heav'n descends—if fiery breath</p> +<p>Of battle, or the darkly rolling smoke</p> +<p>Of conflagration, thus its giant towers</p> +<p>Pile on the sky—ye care not, but enjoy</p> +<p>Its form and glory,—Thus it is with art!</p> +<p>Whether 'twere born amid the sunny depths</p> +<p>Of a glad heart entranced in mutual love—</p> +<p>Or, likelier far, alas! the sorrowing child</p> +<p>Of restless anguish, and baptized in tears—</p> +<p>Or wrung from Genius even amid the throes</p> +<p>Of worse than death—Ye gaze and ye admire,</p> +<p>Nor pause to ask what it hath cost the heart</p> +<p>That gave it being!</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><span style="margin-left:3em"><i>Blackwood's +Magazine.</i></span></p> +</div> +</div> +<hr /> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Romance is ever readier</p> +<p>To make unbidden sacrifice, than rear</p> +<p>The sober edifice of mutual bliss! <span style= +"margin-left:3em"><i>Ibid.</i></span></p> +</div> +</div> +<hr /> +<h3>TRUE PATRIOTISM.</h3> +<p>Promote religion—protect public morals—repress vice +and infidelity—keep the different classes of the community in +strict subordination to each other—and cherish the +principles, feelings, and habits, which give stability, beauty, and +happiness to society.</p> +<p>Descend from the clouds of political economy, and travel in +safety on your mother earth; cast away the blinding spectacles of +the philosophers, and use the eyes you have received from nature. +Practise the vulgar principles, that it is erroneous to ruin +immense good markets, to gain petty bad ones—that you cannot +carry on losing trade—that you cannot live without +profit—and that you cannot eat without income. And pule no +more about individual economy, but eat, and drink, and enjoy +yourselves, like your fathers. What! in these days of free trade, +to tell the hypochondriacal Englishman that the foaming tankard, +the honest bottle of port, and the savoury sirloin, must be +prohibited articles! You surely wish us to hang and drown ourselves +by wholesale.—<i>Ibid.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3>THE FORGET-ME-NOT.</h3> +<p>The following account of the origin of the name "Forget-me-not," +is extracted from Mill's <i>History of Chivalry</i>, and was +communicated to that work by Dr. A.T. Thomson:—"Two lovers +were loitering on the margin of a lake on a fine <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page63" name="page63"></a>[pg 63]</span> summer's +evening, when the maiden espied some of the flowers of +Myosòtis growing on the water, close to the bank of an +island, at some distance from the shore. She expressed a desire to +possess them, when the knight, in the true spirit of chivalry, +plunged into the water, and swimming to the spot, cropped the +wished for plant, but his strength was unable to fulfill the object +of his achievement, and feeling that he could not regain the shore, +although very near it, he threw the flowers upon the bank, and +casting a last affectionate look upon his lady-love, he cried +'Forget me not!' and was buried in the waters."—<i>Gardener's +Magazine.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3>HOME.</h3> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><i>Leonhard.</i> See here what spacious halls: how all +around</p> +<p>Us breathes magnificence!</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><i>Spinarosa.</i> <span style="margin-left:5em">A princely +pile!</span></p> +<p>But ah! how nobler far its daring site!</p> +<p>It rears its tow'rs amid these rocks and glaciers,</p> +<p>As if proud man were in his might resolved</p> +<p>To add <i>his</i> rock to those that spurn the vale.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><i>Leon.</i> All here is beautiful! but 'tis not home!</p> +<p>'Tis true I was a child scarce eight years old</p> +<p>When led by Pietro into Italy—</p> +<p>Yet are my home's green lineaments as fresh</p> +<p>As when first painted on my infant soul;</p> +<p>This castle bears them not.—My home lay hid</p> +<p>In the deep bosom of gigantic oaks,</p> +<p>That o'er its roof their guardian shadows flung.</p> +<p>Nor towers, nor gates, nor pinnacles, were there;</p> +<p>With lowly thatch and humble wicket graced,</p> +<p>Smiling, yet solitary, did it stand.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><span style="margin-left:3em"><i>Blackwood's +Magazine</i>.</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<hr /> +<h3>IRISH SONGS.</h3> +<p>It is impossible to conceive any trash more despicable than the +slang songs which are current amongst the common people in Ireland; +and this is the more to be lamented, as the extreme susceptibility +of the people makes them liable to be easily moved to either good +or evil by their songs. Even the native Irish songs, as we are +informed in Miss Brooke's <i>Reliques of Irish Poetry</i>, are +sadly interpolated with nonsensical passages, which have been +introduced to supply the place of lost or forgotten lines; and of +humorous lyrical poetry, she says there was none in the language +worth translating. Moore has given to the beautiful airs of Ireland +beautiful words; but Moore is a poet for ladies and gentlemen, not +for mankind. It may be, that there are not materials in Ireland, +for a kindred spirit to that of Burns to work upon; but the fact is +but too true, that the <i>poor</i> Irishman has no song of even +decent ability, to cheer his hours of merriment, or soothe the +period of his sadness. Honour and undying praise be upon the memory +of Burns, who has left to us those songs which, like the breath of +nature, from whose fresh inspiration they were caught, are alike +refreshing to the monarch and the clown!—<i>Ibid.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3>A REAL MIRACLE.</h3> +<p>The <i>fable</i> of Dr. Southey's <i>Pilgrim of Compostella</i>, +is as follows:—</p> +<p>A family set forth from Aquitaine to visit the shrine of St. +James, at Compostella, whither, according to the Catholic faith, +the decapitated body of that saint was conveyed from Palestine, +(miraculously of course,) in a ship of marble. At a certain small +town by the way, their son Pierre is tempted by the innkeeper's +daughter. Like a second Joseph, he resists the immodest damsel; +like Potiphar's wife, she converts her love to hate, and accuses +the virtuous youth of a capital crime. Her false oaths prevail, and +he is condemned to the gallows. Rejoicing in his martyred +innocence, he exhorts his parents to pursue their pilgrimage, and +pray for the peace of his soul. Sorrowing, they proceed, and +returning, find their son hanging by the neck alive, and singing +psalms—in no actual pain—but naturally desirous to be +freed from his extraordinary state of suspended animation. They +repair to the chief magistrate of the town, by whose authority the +youth was executed—find his worship at dinner—relate +the wonderful preservation of their son—and request that he +may be restored. The magistrate is incredulous, and declares that +he would sooner believe that the fowls on which he was dining would +rise again in full feather. The miracle is performed. The cock and +hen spring from the ocean of their own gravy, clacking and crowing, +with all appurtenances of spur, comb, and feather. Pierre, of +course, is liberated, and declared innocent. The cock and hen +become objects of veneration—live in a state of +chastity—and are finally translated—leaving just two +eggs, from which arise another immaculate cock and hen. The breed +is perhaps still in existence, and time hath been, that a lucrative +trade was carried on in their feathers!!!—<i>Ibid.</i>.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THE GATHERER.</h2> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>A snapper up of unconsidered trifles.</p> +<p>SHAKSPEARE.</p> +</div> +</div> +<hr /> +<p>Of Hogarth's first attempt at satire, the following story is +related by Nichols, who had it from one of Hogarth's fellow +workmen. "One summer Sunday, during his apprenticeship, he went +with <span class="pagenum"><a id="page64" name="page64"></a>[pg +64]</span> three companions to Highgate, and the weather being warm +and the way dusty, they went into a public house, and called for +ale. There happened to be other customers in the house, who to free +drinking added fierce talking, and a quarrel ensued. One of them on +receiving a blow with the bottom of a quart pot, looked so +ludicrously rueful, that Hogarth snatched out a pencil and sketched +him as he stood. It was very like and very laughable, and +contributed to the restoration of order and good humour."</p> +<hr /> +<h3>THE "GOOD BOY" LOVER.</h3> +<p>"When I was a lad," said a facetious gentleman to the recorder +of the anecdote, "I was, or rather fancied myself to be, +desperately in love with a very charming young lady. Dining at her +parents' house one day, I was unfortunately helped to the gizzard +of a chicken, attached to one of the wings. Aware, like most +'<i>good boys</i>' that it was extremely ungenteel to leave +anything upon my plate, and being over anxious to act with +etiquette and circumspection in this interesting circle, I, as a +'good boy' wished strictly to conform myself to the rules of good +breeding. But the <i>gizzard</i> of a fowl! Alas! it was +impossible! how unfortunate! I <i>abhorred</i> it! No, I could not +either for <i>love</i> or money have swallowed such a thing! So, +after blushing, playing with the annoyance, and casting many a +side-long glance to see if I was observed, I contrived at length to +roll it from my plate into my <i>mouchoir</i>, which I had placed +on my knees purposely for its reception; the next minute all was +safely lodged in my pocket. Conversing with the object of my +affections, during the evening, in a state of nervous +forgetfulness, I drew forth my handkerchief, and in a superb +flourish, out flew the GIZZARD! Good heavens! my fair one stared, +coloured, laughed; I was petrified; away flew my ecstatic dreams; +and out of the house I flung myself without one '<i>au revoir</i>,' +but with a consciousness of the truth of that delectable ballad +which proclaims, that 'Love <i>has</i> EYES!!' I thought no more of +love in that quarter, believe me!" M.L.B.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>ADMIRAL RODNEY.</h3> +<p>During the heat of the memorable battles with Count de Grasse, +of April 9th and 12th, 1782, the gallant Rodney desired his young +aid-de-camp (Mr. Charles Dashwood<a id="footnotetag9" name= +"footnotetag9"></a><a href="#footnote9"><sup>9</sup></a>) to make +him a glass of lemonade, the ingredients for which were at hand. +Not having any thing to stir it with but a knife, already +discoloured by the cutting of the lemon, Sir George coolly said, on +Mr. Dashwood presenting it to him, "Child, that may do for a +midshipman, but not for an admiral—take it yourself, and send +my servant to me." C.C.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>EXPRESSIVE WORDS.</h3> +<p>I knew very well a French Chevalier, who on coming to England, +applied himself with amazing ardour to the study of our language, +and his remarks upon it, if not always very acute were at least +entertaining. One day, reading aloud an English work, he stopped at +the word SPLASH; expressed himself highly delighted with it, as a +term, which minutely described the thing meant; then repeating it +many times with marked pleasure, and a strong sibillation, he +added, "No! no! dere is noting at all, noting in <i>my</i> language +dat de same would be like <i>splash</i>!" Perhaps the following +sentence from the satire of a notorious wit in Elizabeth's reign, +is a fair specimen of those expressive words which <i>paint</i>, +the object of which they speak:—"To which place, Gabriel +came, <i>ruffling</i> it out, hufty-tufty, in his new suit of +velvet." The man was vain; the writer has made him a +<i>peacock</i>. M.L.B.</p> +<hr /> +<p>I would no more bring a new work out in summer than I would sell +pork in the dog-days.—<i>Bookseller in Cit. World.</i></p> +<hr /> +<p>LIMBIRD'S EDITIONS.</p> +<p>CHEAP and POPULAR WORKS published at the MIRROR OFFICE in the +Strand, near Somerset House.</p> +<p>The ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS, Embellished with nearly 150 +Engravings. Price 6s. 6d. boards.</p> +<p>The TALES of the GENII. Price 2s.</p> +<p>The MICROCOSM: By the Right Hon. G. CANNING. &c. Price +2s.</p> +<p>PLUTARCH'S LIVES, with Fifty Portraits, 2 vols. price 13s. +boards.</p> +<p>COWPER'S POEMS, with 12 Engravings, price 3s. 6d. boards.</p> +<p>COOK'S VOYAGES, 2 vols. price 8s. boards.</p> +<p>The CABINET of CURIOSITIES: or, WONDERS of the WORLD DISPLAYED. +Price 5s. boards.</p> +<p>BEAUTIES of SCOTT. 2 vols. price 7s. boards.</p> +<p>The ARCANA of SCIENCE for 1828. Price 4s. 6d.</p> +<p>*** Any of the above Works can be purchased in Parts.</p> +<p>GOLDSMITH'S ESSAYS. Price 8d. DR. FRANKLIN'S ESSAYS. Price 1s. +2d. BACON'S ESSAYS Price 8d. SALMAGUNDI. Price 1s. 8d.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote1" name= +"footnote1"></a> <b>Footnote 1</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag1">(return)</a> +<p>Johnson's Life of Thomson.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote2" name= +"footnote2"></a> <b>Footnote 2</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag2">(return)</a> +<p><i>Show-houses</i> is a very appropriate term for such of the +mansions of our nobility and gentry as are open to public +inspection. Hagley is extremely rich in treasures of art. A mere +catalogue of them would occupy the whole of our sheet; but we must +notice two curiously carved mahogany tables, which cost +£200.; four exquisitely carved busts of Shakspeare, Milton, +Spenser, and Dryden, by Scheimaker, and bequeathed to George, Lord +Lyttleton, by Pope; the portrait of Pope and his dog, Bounce; a +fine Madonna, by Rubens; several pictures by Vandyke, Sir Peter +Lely, Le Brun, &c. &c. the Gobelin tapestry of the drawing +room; the ceiling painted by Cipriani; and the family pictures, +among which is Judge Lyttleton, copied from the painted glass in +the Middle Temple Hall.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote3" name= +"footnote3"></a> <b>Footnote 3</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag3">(return)</a> +<p>Thomson's affectionate letter to his sister, (quoted by Johnson, +who received it from Boswell,) is dated "Hagley, in Worcestershire, +October the 4th, 1747."</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote4" name= +"footnote4"></a> <b>Footnote 4</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag4">(return)</a> +<p>Anteuil, near Paris.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote5" name= +"footnote5"></a> <b>Footnote 5</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag5">(return)</a> +<p>Horace speaks thus to his steward in the country. Epistle xiv. +book 1.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote6" name= +"footnote6"></a> <b>Footnote 6</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag6">(return)</a> +<p>Lewis XIV.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote7" name= +"footnote7"></a> <b>Footnote 7</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag7">(return)</a> +<p>See Ode sur la prise de Namur.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote8" name= +"footnote8"></a> <b>Footnote 8</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag8">(return)</a> +<p>This metaphor has been considered too bold, and perhaps justly, +but <i>Despreaux</i> did not think it so. He observed to <i>M. +Dagnesseau</i> that if this line were not good, he might burn the +whole production.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote9" name= +"footnote9"></a> <b>Footnote 9</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag9">(return)</a> +<p>Afterwards advanced to the rank of post captain, in 1801.</p> +</blockquote> +<hr class="full" /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, +and Instruction, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, NO. 382 *** + +***** This file should be named 11462-h.htm or 11462-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/4/6/11462/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Marvin A. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction + Vol. 14, Issue 382, July 25, 1829 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: March 5, 2004 [EBook #11462] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, NO. 382 *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Marvin A. Hodges, David King, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 14, No. 382.] SATURDAY, JULY 25, 1829. [PRICE 2d. + + + + +POPE'S TEMPLE, AT HAGLEY + + +[Illustration: Pope's Temple, at Hagley] + +Reader! are you going out of town "_in search of the picturesque_"--if +so, bend your course to the classic, the consecrated ground of HAGLEY! +think of LYTTLETON, POPE, SHENSTONE, and THOMSON, or refresh your memory +from the "_Spring_" of the latter, as-- + + Courting the muse, thro' _Hagley_ Park thou strayst. + Thy _British Tempe_! There along the dale, + With woods o'erhung, and shagg'd with mossy rocks, + Whence on each hand the gushing waters play, + And down the rough cascade white dashing fall, + Or gleam in lengthen'd vista through the trees, + You silent steal; or sit beneath the shade + Of solemn oaks, that tuft the swelling mounts + Thrown graceful round by Nature's careless hand, + And pensive listen to the various voice + Of rural peace; the herds, the flocks, the birds, + The hollow-whispering breeze, the 'plaint of rills, + That, purling down amid the twisted roots + Which creep around their dewy murmurs shake + On the sooth'd ear. + +Such is the fervid language in which the Poet of the year invoked + + "LYTTLETON, the friend!" + +Yet these lines will kindle the delight and reverence of every lover of +Nature, in common with the effect of the _Seasons_ on the reader, who +"wonders that he never saw before what Thomson shows him, and that he +never yet has felt what Thomson impresses."[1] + + [1] Johnson's Life of Thomson. + +But we quit these nether flights of song to describe the locality of +Hagley Park, of whose beauties our Engraving is but a mere vignette, and +in comparison like holding a candle to the sun. The village of Hagley is +a short distance from Bromsgrove, in Worcestershire, whence the +pleasantest route to the park is to turn to the right on the Birmingham +road, which cuts the grounds into two unequal parts. The house is a +plain and even simple, yet classical edifice. Whately, in his work on +Gardening, describes it as surrounded by a lawn, of fine uneven ground, +and diversified with large clumps, little groups, and single trees; it +is open in front, but covered on one side by the Witchbury hills; on the +other side, and behind by the eminences in the park, which are high and +steep, and all overspread with a lofty hanging wood. The lawn pressing +to the front, or creeping up the slopes of three hills, and sometimes +winding along glades into the depth of the wood, traces a beautiful +outline to a sylvan scene, already rich to luxuriance in massive +foliage, and stately growth. The present house was built by the first +Lord Lyttleton, not on, but near to, the site of the ancient family +mansion, a structure of the sixteenth century. Admission may be obtained +on application to the housekeeper; and for paintings, carving, and +gilding, Hagley is one of the richest show-houses in the kingdom.[2] + + [2] _Show-houses_ is a very appropriate term for such of the + mansions of our nobility and gentry as are open to public + inspection. Hagley is extremely rich in treasures of art. A mere + catalogue of them would occupy the whole of our sheet; but we + must notice two curiously carved mahogany tables, which cost + L200.; four exquisitely carved busts of Shakspeare, Milton, + Spenser, and Dryden, by Scheimaker, and bequeathed to George, + Lord Lyttleton, by Pope; the portrait of Pope and his dog, + Bounce; a fine Madonna, by Rubens; several pictures by Vandyke, + Sir Peter Lely, Le Brun, &c. &c. the Gobelin tapestry of the + drawing room; the ceiling painted by Cipriani; and the family + pictures, among which is Judge Lyttleton, copied from the + painted glass in the Middle Temple Hall. + +Much as the visiter will admire the refined taste displayed within the +mansion, his admiration will be heightened by the classic taste in which +the grounds are disposed. A short distance from the house, embosomed in +trees, stands the church, built in the time of Henry III.; with a +sublime Gothic arch, richly painted windows, and a ceiling fretted with +the heraldic fires of the Lyttleton family, whose tombs are placed on +all sides; among them, the resting-place of the gay poet is +distinguished by the following plain inscription:-- + + This unadorned stone was placed here + By the particular desire and express + Directions of the Right Honourable + GEORGE, LORD LYTTLETON, + Who died August 22, 1773, aged 64. + +Leaving the church we ascend to the crest of a hill, on which stands the +Prince of Wales's Pillar. From this point, the view is inexpressibly +beautiful, in which may be seen an octagon seat sacred to the memory of +Thomson, and erected on the brow of a verdant steep, his favourite spot. +In the foreground is a gently winding valley; on the rising hill beyond +is a noble wood, whilst to the right the open country fades in the +distance; on the left the Clent hills appear, and a dusky antique tower +stands just below them at the extremity of the wood; whilst in the midst +of it, we can discern the _Doric temple sacred to Pope_. This exquisite +gem of the picturesque is represented in our Engraving. + +In the adjoining grove of oaks is the antique tower; in a beautiful +amphitheatre of wood, an Ionic rotunda; and in an embowering grove a +Palladian bridge, with a light airy portico. Here on a fine lawn is the +urn inscribed to Pope, mentioned by Shenstone: + + Here Pope! ah, never must that towering mind + To his loved haunts, or dearer friend return; + What art, what friendship! oh! what fame resign'd; + In yonder glade I trace his mournful urn. + +At the end of the valley, in an obscure corner is a hermitage, composed +of roots and moss, whence we look down on a piece of water in the +hollow, thickly shaded with tall trees, (_see the engraving_,) over +which is a fine view of distant landscape. This spot is the extremity of +the park, and the Clent hills rise in all their wild irregularity, +immediately behind it. + +We have not space to describe, or rather to abridge from Whately's +beautiful description, a tithe of the classic embellishments of Hagley. +Shenstone as well as Pope has here his votive urn. Ivied ruin, temple, +grotto, statue, fountain, and bridge; the proud portico and the humble +rustic seat, alternate amidst these ornamental charms, and never were +Nature and art more delightfully blended than in the beauties of Hagley. +Here Pope, Shenstone, and Thomson[3] passed many hours of calm +contemplation and poetic ease, amidst the hospitalities of the noble +owner of Hagley. To think of their kindred spirits haunting its groves, +and their imaginative contrivances of votive temples, urns, and tablets, +and to combine them with these enchanting scenes of Nature, is to +realize all that Poets have sung of Arcadia of old. Happy! happy life +for the man of letters; what a retreat must your bowers have afforded +from the common-place perplexities of every-day life: Alas! the picture +is almost too sunny for sober contemplation. + + [3] Thomson's affectionate letter to his sister, (quoted by + Johnson, who received it from Boswell,) is dated "Hagley, in + Worcestershire, October the 4th, 1747." + + * * * * * + +_In part of the impression of our last Number, we stated the architect +of the front of_ Apsley House, _to be Sir Jeffrey Wyatville, instead of +Mr. Benjamin Wyatt, by whom the design was furnished, and under whose +superintendence this splendid improvement has been executed. Mr. B. +Wyatt is likewise the architect of the superb mansion built for the late +Duke of York._ + + * * * * * + + +INGRATITUDE. + +A DRAMATIC SKETCH. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + + Hence, faithless wretch! thou hast forgot the hand + That sav'd thee from oppression--from the grasp + Of want. I fed you once--then you was poor: + Even as I am now. Yet from the store + Of your abundance, you refuse to grant + The veriest trifle. May the bounty + Of that great God who gave you what you have + Ne'er from you flow. You have forgot me, sir, + But I remember ere I left this land, + By way of traffic for the western world, + I had a favourite, faithful dog, + Who for the kindnesses I pour'd upon him + Would fawn upon me: not in flattery, + But in a sort that spoke his generous nature. + Lasting as memory, + Faster than friendship--deeper than the wave + Is the affection of a mindless brute. + In a few hours (for I can almost see + The cot wherein these travell'd bones were cradled,) + I shall have ended an untoward enterprize, + And if that honest creature I have told you of + Still breathes this vital air, and will not know me, + May hospitality keep closed her gates + Against me, till I find a home within + The grave. CYMBELINE. + + * * * * * + + +M. BOILEAU TO HIS GARDENER. + +IMITATED + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + + Industrious man, thou art a prize to me, + The best of masters--surely born for thee; + Thou keeper art of this my rural seat,[4] + Kept at my charge to keep my garden neat; + To train the woodbine and to crop the yew-- + In th' art of gard'ning equall'd p'rhaps by few. + O! could I cultivate my barren soul, + As thou this garden canst so well control; + Pluck up each brier and thorn, by frequent toil, + And clear the mind as thou canst cleanse the soil[5] + + But now, my faithful servant, Anthony, + Just speak, and tell me what you think of me; + When through the day amidst the gard'ning trade + You bear the wat'ring pot, or wield the spade, + And by your labour cause each part to yield, + And make my garden like a fruitful field; + What say you, when you see me musing there + With looks intent as lost in anxious care, + And sending forth my sentiments in words + That oft intimidate the peaceful birds? + Dost thou not then suppose me void of rest, + Or think some demon agitates my breast? + Yon villagers, you know, are wont to say + Thy master's fam'd for writing many a lay, + 'Mongst other matters too he's known to sing + The glorious acts of our victorious king;[6] + Whose martial fame resounds thro' every town; + Unparallel'd in wisdom and renown. + You know it well--and by this garden wall + P'rhaps Mons and Namur[7] at this instant fall. + What shouldst thou think if haply some should say + This noted chronicler's employ'd to-day + In writing something new--and thus his time + Devotes to thee--to paint his thoughts in rhyme? + My master, thou wouldst say, can ably teach, + And often tells me more than parsons preach; + But still, methinks, if he was forc'd to toil + Like me each day--to cultivate the soil, + To prune the trees, to keep the fences round; + Reduce the rising to the level ground, + Draw water from the fountains near at hand + To cheer and fertilize the thirsty land, + He would not trade in trifles such as these, + And drive the peaceful linnets from the trees. + + Now, Anthony, I plainly see that you + Suppose yourself the busiest of the two; + But ah, methinks you'd tell a diff'rent tale + If two whole days beyond the garden pale + You were to leave the mattock and the spade + And all at once take up the poet's trade: + To give a manuscript a fairer face, + And all the beauty of poetic grace; + Or give the most offensive flower that blows + Carnation's sweets, and colours of the rose; + And change the homely language of the clown + To suit the courtly readers of the town-- + Just such a work, in fact, I mean to say, + As well might please the critics of the day! + + Soon from this work returning tir'd and lean, + More tann'd than though you'd twenty summers seen, + The wonted gard'ning tools again you'd take + Your long-accustom'd shovel and your rake; + And then exclaiming, you would surely say, + 'Twere better far to labour many a day + Than e'er attempt to take such useless flights, + And vainly strive to gain poetic heights, + Impossible to reach--I might as soon + Ascend at once and land upon the moon! + + Come, Anthony, attend: let me explain + (Although an idler) weariness and pain. + Man's ever rack'd and restless, here below, + And at his best estate must labour know. + Then comes fatigue. The Sisters nine may please + And promise poets happiness and ease; + But e'en amidst those trees, that cooling shade, + That calm retreat for them expressly made, + No rest they find--there rich effusions flow + In all the measures bardic numbers know: + Thus on their way in endless toil they move, + And spend their strength in labours that they love. + Beneath the trees the bards the muses haunt, + And with incessant toil are seen to pant; + But still amidst their pains, they pleasure find + An ample entertainment for the mind. + But, after all, 'tis plain enough to me, + A man unstudious, must unhappy be; + Who deems a dull, inactive life the best, + A life of laziness, a life of rest; + A willing slave to sloth--and well I know, + He suffers much who nothing has to do. + His mind beclouded, he obscurely sees, + And free from busy life imagines ease. + All sinful pleasures reign without control, + And passions unsubdued pollute the soul; + He thus indulges in impure desires, + Which long have lurk'd within, like latent fires: + At length they kindle--burst into a flame + On him they sport--sad spectacle of shame. + Remorse ensues--with every fierce disease. + The stone and cruel gout upon him seize; + To quell their rage some fam'd physicians come + Who scarce less cruel, crowd the sick man's room; + On him they operate--these learned folk, + Make him saw rocks, and cleave the solid oak;[8] + And gladly would the man his fate resign + For such an humble, happy state as thine. + Be thankful, Anthony, and think with me, + The poor hardworking man may happier be + If blest with strength, activity, and health, + Than those who roll in luxury and wealth. + + Two truths important, I proceed to tell, + One is a truth, you surely know full well; + That labour is essential here below + To man--a source of weal instead of woe: + The other truth, few words suffice to prove, + No blame attaches to the life I love. + So still attend--but I must say no more, + I plainly see, you wish my sermon o'er; + You gape, you close your eyes, you drop your chin, + Again methinks I'd better not begin. + Besides, these melons seem to wish to know + The reason why they are neglected so; + And ask if yonder village holds its feast + And thou awhile art there detained a guest, + While all the flowery tribes make sad complaint. + For want of water they are grown quite faint. + + _Tipton._ T.S.A. + + [4] Anteuil, near Paris. + + [5] Horace speaks thus to his steward in the country. Epistle + xiv. book 1. + + [6] Lewis XIV. + + [7] See Ode sur la prise de Namur. + + [8] This metaphor has been considered too bold, and perhaps + justly, but _Despreaux_ did not think it so. He observed to _M. + Dagnesseau_ that if this line were not good, he might burn the + whole production. + + * * * * * + + + +THE SELECTOR, AND LITERARY NOTICES OF _NEW WORKS._ + + + * * * * * + + +LIVES OF BRITISH PAINTERS, SCULPTORS, AND ARCHITECTS. + +_By Allan Cunningham._ + + +This volume is the first of a series of Lives of Artists, and the fourth +number of Murray's _Family Library_. The author is a first-rate poet, +but it appears that he undertook this task with some diffidence. We +have, however, few artists of literary attainments, and they are more +profitably employed than in authorship. Little apology was necessary, +for of all literary men, poets are best calculated to write on the Fine +Arts: and the genius of Poetry, Painting, Sculpture, and Music, is often +associated in one mind, in love of the subjects at least, if not in +practice. + +Prefixed to the "Lives," is a delightful chapter on British Art before +the birth of Hogarth, from which we quote the following:-- + +"Poetry, Painting, Sculpture, and Music, are the natural offspring of +the heart of man. They are found among the most barbarous nations; they +flourish among the most civilized; and springing from nature, and not +from necessity or accident, they can never be wholly lost in the most +disastrous changes. In this they differ from mere inventions; and, +compared with mechanical discoveries, are what a living tree is to a log +of wood. It may indeed be said that the tongue of poetry is occasionally +silent, and the hand of painting sometimes stayed; but this seems not to +affect the ever-living principle which I claim as their characteristic. +They are heard and seen again in their season, as the birds and flowers +are at the coming of spring; and assert their title to such immortality +as the things of earth may claim. It is true that the poetry of +barbarous nations is rude, and their attempts at painting uncouth; yet +even in these we may recognise the foreshadowings of future excellence, +and something of the peculiar character which, in happier days, the +genius of the same tribe is to stamp upon worthier productions. The +future Scott, or Lawrence, or Chantrey, may be indicated afar-off in the +barbarous ballads, drawings, or carvings, of an early nation. Coarse +nature and crude simplicity are the commencement, as elevated nature and +elegant simplicity are the consummation of art. + +"When the Spaniards invaded the palaces of Chili and Peru, they found +them filled with works of art. Cook found considerable beauty of drawing +and skill of workmanship in the ornamented weapons and war-canoes of the +islanders of the South Sea; and in the interior recesses of India, +sculptures and paintings, of no common merit, are found in every +village. In like manner, when Caesar landed among the barbarians of +Britain, he found them acquainted with arts and arms; and his savage +successors, the Saxons, added to unextinguishable ferocity a love of +splendour and a rude sense of beauty, still visible in the churches +which they built, and the monuments which they erected to their princes +and leaders. All those works are of that kind called ornamental: the +graces of true art, the truth of action and the dignity of sentiment are +wanting; and they seem to have been produced by a sort of mechanical +process, similar to that which creates figures in arras. Art is, indeed, +of slow and gradual growth; like the oak, it is long of growing to +maturity and strength. Much knowledge of colour, much skill of hand, +much experience in human character, and a deep sense of light and shade, +have to be acquired, to enable the pencil to embody the conceptions of +genius. The artist has to seek for all this in the accumulated mass of +professional knowledge: which time has gathered for his instruction, and +with his best wisdom, and his happiest fortune, he can only add a little +more information to the common stock, for the benefit of his successors. +In no country has Painting risen suddenly into eminence. While Poetry +takes wing at once, free and unincumbered, she is retarded in her ascent +by the very mechanism to which she must at last owe at least half her +glory. In Britain, Painting was centuries in throwing off the fetters of +mere mechanical skill, and in rising into the region of genius. The +original spirit of England had appeared in many a noble poem, while the +two sister arts were still servilely employed in preserving incredible +legends, in taking the likeness of the last saint whom credulity had +added to the calendar, and in confounding the acts of the apostles in +the darkness of allegory." + +Then follows an outline of early Art in England, in the embellishment of +cathedrals, &c.; among which is the following notice of one of the +earliest of our attempts at historical portraiture which can be +authenticated:-- + +"It is a Painting on Wood; the figures are less than life, and represent +Henry the Fifth and his relations. It measures four feet six inches +long, by four feet four inches high, and was in the days of Catholic +power the altarpiece of the church of Shene. An angel stands in the +centre, holding in his hands the expanding coverings of two tents, out +of which the king, with three princes, and the queen, with four +princesses, are proceeding to kneel at two altars, where crosses, and +sceptres, and books are lying. They wear long and flowing robes, with +loose hair, and have crowns on their heads. In the background, St. +George appears in the air, combating with the dragon, while Cleodelinda +kneels in prayer beside a lamb. It is not, indeed, quite certain that +this curious work was made during the reign of Henry the Fifth, but +there can be little doubt of its being painted as early as that of his +son." + +In the next page we have the following character of an English artist of +about the same period:-- + +"He was at once architect, sculptor, carpenter, goldsmith, armourer, +jeweller, saddler, tailor, and painter. There is extant, in Dugdale, a +curious example of the character of the times, and a scale by which we +can measure the public admiration of art. It is a contract between the +Earl of Warwick and John Rag, citizen and tailor, London, in which the +latter undertakes to execute the emblazonry of the earl's pageant in his +situation of ambassador to France. In the tailor's bill, gilded griffins +mingle with Virgin Marys; painted streamers for battle or procession, +with the twelve apostles; and 'one coat for his grace's body, lute with +fine gold,' takes precedence of St. George and the Dragon." + +We wish some of the criticism in this chapter had been milder, and a few +of the invectives not so highly charged; some of them even out-Herod the +fury of an article on Painting, in a recent number of the _Edinburgh +Review_. But we must pass on to pleasanter matters--as the following +poetical paragraphs:-- + +"The art of tapestry as well as the art of illuminating books, aided in +diffusing a love of painting over the island. It was carried to a high +degree of excellence. The earliest account of its appearance in England +is during the reign of Henry the Eighth, but there is no reason to doubt +that it was well known and in general esteem much earlier. The +traditional account, that we were instructed in it by the Saracens, has +probably some foundation. The ladies encouraged this manufacture by +working at it with their own hands; and the rich aided by purchasing it +in vast quantities whenever regular practitioners appeared in the +market. It found its way into church and palace--chamber and hall. It +served at once to cover and adorn cold and comfortless walls. It added +warmth, and, when snow was on the hill and ice in the stream, gave an +air of social snugness which has deserted some of our modern mansions. + +"At first the figures and groups, which rendered this manufacture +popular, were copies of favourite paintings; but, as taste improved and +skill increased, they showed more of originality in their conceptions, +if not more of nature in their forms. They exhibited, in common with all +other works of art, the mixed taste of the times--a grotesque union of +classical and Hebrew history--of martial life and pastoral repose--of +Greek gods and Romish saints. Absurd as such combinations certainly +were, and destitute of those beauties of form and delicate gradations +and harmony of colour which distinguish paintings worthily so +called--still when the hall was lighted up, and living faces thronged +the floor, the silent inhabitants of the walls would seem, in the eyes +of our ancestors, something very splendid. As painting rose in fame, +tapestry sunk in estimation. The introduction of a lighter and less +massive mode of architecture abridged the space for its accommodation, +and by degrees the stiff and fanciful creations of the loom vanished +from our walls. The art is now neglected. I am sorry for this, because I +cannot think meanly of an art which engaged the heads and hands of the +ladies of England, and gave to the tapestried hall of elder days fame +little inferior to what now waits on a gallery of paintings." + +Passing over Holbein, Sir Antonio Moore, Vandyke, Lely, Kneller, and +Thornhill, we come to the lives of Hogarth--Wilson--Reynolds and +Gainsborough--from which we select a few characteristic anecdotes and +sketches. In noticing Hogarth's early life, Mr. Cunningham has thrown +some discredit on a book, which on its publication, made not a little +chat among artists:-- + +"Of those early days I find this brief notice in Smith's Life of +Nollekens the sculptor. 'I have several times heard Mr. Nollekens +observe, that he had frequently seen Hogarth, when a young man, saunter +round Leicester Fields with his master's sickly child hanging its head +over his shoulder.' It is more amusing to read such a book than safe to +quote it. Hogarth had ceased to have a master for seventeen years, was +married to Jane Thornhill, kept his carriage, and was in the full blaze +of his reputation, when Nollekens was born." + +Among Hogarth's early labours are his Illustrations of Hudibras, +published in 1726. These were seventeen plates; and we have lately seen +in the possession of Mr. Britton, the architect, eleven original +paintings illustrative of Butler's witty poem, and attributed to +Hogarth. + +From the notices of Hogarth's portraits we select the following:-- + +"Hogarth's Portrait of Henry Fielding, executed after death from +recollection, is remarkable as being the only likeness extant of the +prince of English novelists. It has various histories. According to +Murphy, Fielding had made many promises to sit to Hogarth, for whose +genius he had a high esteem, but died without fulfilling them; a lady +accidentally cut a profile with her scissars, which recalled Fielding's +face so completely to Hogarth's memory, that he took up the outline, +corrected and finished it and made a capital likeness. The world is +seldom satisfied with a common account of any thing that interests +it--more especially as a marvellous one is easily manufactured. The +following, then, is the second history. Garrick, having dressed himself +in a suit of Fielding's clothes, presented himself unexpectedly before +the artist, mimicking the step, and assuming the look of their deceased +friend. Hogarth was much affected at first, but, on recovering, took his +pencil, and drew the portrait. For those who love a soberer history, the +third edition is ready. Mrs. Hogarth, when questioned concerning it, +said, that she remembered the affair well; her husband began the +picture--and finished it--one evening in his own house, and sitting by +her side. + +"Captain Coram, the projector of the Foundling Hospital, sat for his +portrait to Hogarth, and it is one of the best he ever painted. There is +a natural dignity and great benevolence expressed in a face which, in +the original, was rough and forbidding. This worthy man, having laid out +his fortune and impaired his health in acts of charity and mercy, was +reduced to poverty in his old age. An annuity of a hundred pounds was +privately purchased, and when it was presented to him, he said, 'I did +not waste the wealth which I possessed in self-indulgence or vain +expense, and am not ashamed to own that in my old age I am poor.' + +"The last which I shall notice of this class of productions, is the +portrait of the celebrated demagogue John Wilkes. This singular +performance originated in a quarrel with that witty libertine, and his +associate Churchill the poet: it immediately followed an article, from +the pen of Wilkes, in the North Briton, which insulted Hogarth as a man, +and traduced him as an artist. It is so little of a caricature, that +Wilkes good humouredly observes somewhere in his correspondence, 'I am +growing every day more and more like my portrait by Hogarth.' The +terrible scourge of the satirist fell bitterly upon the personal and +moral deformities of the man. Compared with his chastisement the +hangman's whip is but a proverb, and the pillory a post of honour. He +might hope oblivion from the infamy of both; but from Hogarth there was +no escape. It was little indeed that the artist had to do, to brand and +emblazon him with the vices of his nature--but with how much +discrimination that little is done! He took up the correct portrait, +which Walpole upbraids him with skulking into a court of law to obtain, +and in a few touches the man sank, and the demon of hypocrisy and +sensuality sat in his stead. It is a fiend, and yet it is Wilkes still. +It is said that when he had finished this remarkable portrait, the +former friendship of Wilkes overcame him, and he threw it into the fire, +from which it was saved by the interposition of his wife." + +All the criticisms on Hogarth's _moral_ pictures have an air of +originality and freshness of mind, which is so attractive, as to make us +regret that we have not room for them. In proof of this, only let the +reader turn to Mr. Cunningham's remarks on the Harlot and Rake's +Progress, at pages 98 and 99. His descriptions too of the satirical +pictures are extremely ludicrous, and in effect second only to painting +itself. The following anecdote of the celebrated _March to Finchley_ is +curious, though well known:-- + +"The original painting was, on the publication of the print, disposed of +by a kind of lottery. Seven shillings and sixpence were fixed as the +price of a print; and every purchaser of a print was entitled to a +chance in the lottery for the picture. Eighteen hundred and forty-three +chances were subscribed for; a hundred and sixty-seven tickets, which +remained, were presented to the Foundling Hospital. One of the +Hospital's tickets drew the desired prize; and on the same night Hogarth +delivered the painting to the governors, not a little pleased that it +was to adorn a public place." + +After quoting Walpole's description of Hogarth's _Sigismunda_, in which +he says-- + +"To add to the disgust raised by such vulgar expression, her fingers +were blooded by her lover's heart, that lay before her like that of a +sheep for her dinner;--" + +Mr. C. observes, "this is very severe, very pointed, and very untrue. +The Sigismunda of Hogarth is not tearing off her ornaments, nor are her +fingers bloodied by her lover's heart. It is said that the picture +resembled Mrs. Hogarth, who was a very handsome woman; and to this +circumstance Wilkes maliciously alludes in his unprincipled attack on +her husband. 'If the Sigismunda,' says this polite patriot, 'had a +resemblance of any thing ever seen on earth, or had the least pretence +to either meaning or expression, it was what he had seen, or perhaps +made--in real life--his own wife in an agony of passion; but of what +passion no connoisseur could guess.' That Mrs. Hogarth sat for the +picture of Sigismunda seems to have been known to conscientious John, +and this is supported by that lady's conduct to Walpole. This noble +biographer sent her a copy of his Anecdotes, accompanied by a courtly +and soothing note; but she was so much offended by his description of +the Sigismunda, that she took no notice of his present. The widow of the +artist was poor--and an opinion so ill-natured--so depreciating--and so +untrue, injured the property which she wished to sell: she loved too the +memory of her husband, and resented in the dignity of silence the +malicious and injurious attack. She considered the present as an insult +offered when she had no one to protect her. I love her pride and +reverence her affection." + +Of Hogarth's house at Chiswick, we have the following slight notice:-- + +"The time was now approaching when superstition, and folly, and vice, +were to be relieved from the satiric pencil which had awed them so +long--the health of Hogarth began to decline. He was aware of this, and +purchased a small house at Chiswick, to which he retired during the +summer, amusing himself with making slight sketches and retouching his +plates. This house stood till lately on a very pretty spot; but the +demon of building came into the neighbourhood, choked up the garden, and +destroyed the secluded beauty of Hogarth's cottage. The garden, well +stored with walnut, mulberry, and apple trees, contained a small study, +with a head-stone, placed over a favourite bullfinch, on which the +artist had etched the bird's head and written an epitaph. The cottage +contained many snug rooms, and was but yesterday the residence of a man +of learning and genius, Mr. Cary, the translator of Dante. The change of +scene, the free fresh air, and exercise on horseback, had for awhile a +favourable influence on Hogarth's health; but he complained that he was +no longer able to think with the readiness, and work with the elasticity +of spirit, of his earlier years. The friends of this artist observed, +and lamented, this falling away; his enemies hastened to congratulate +Churchill and Wilkes on the success of their malevolence; and these men +were capable of rejoicing in the belief that the work of nature was +their own." + +We are glad to see Mr. Cunningham throwing light on false conclusions +drawn from the eccentricities of genius, as in this little anecdote:-- + +"With Dr. Hoadley, who corrected the manuscript of the Analysis of +Beauty for the press, Hogarth was on such friendly terms that he was +admitted into one of the private theatrical exhibitions which the doctor +loved, and was appointed to perform along with Garrick and his +entertainer, a parody on that scene in Julius Caesar where the ghost +appears to Brutus. Hogarth personated the spectre, but so +unretentive--(we are told)--was his memory that though the speech +consisted only of two lines he was unable to get them by heart, and his +facetious associates wrote them on an illuminated lantern that he might +read them when he came upon the stage. Such is the way in which +anecdotes are manufactured, and conclusions of absence or imbecility +drawn. The speech of the ghost written on the paper lantern formed part +of the humour of the burlesque. Men, dull in comprehending the +eccentricities of genius, set down what passes their own understanding +to the account of the other's stupidity." + +Here our notice of the Life of Hogarth would end, did we not feel +inclined to venture a word or two respecting the omission of Hogarth's +_Tailpiece_, engraved in Ireland's "Life," and there described as his +last work. With the superstitious tale attached to it almost every one +is familiar; yet some notice ought surely to have been taken of the +story, even had it only been to expose its falsehood and absurdity. + +We find that we have proceeded but half through the volume, so that +Wilson, Reynolds, and Gainsborough must remain for another number. + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY. + + + * * * * * + + +_Microscopic Objects._ + + +The most delicate test objects for microscopes are the lines on the +feathers of butterflies or moths' wings, of which there are many +gradations; some easily demonstrated, and others only to be seen with +the most powerful reflectors, and to the best advantage by the simple +and uncondensed light of the lamp. The hair of a mouse is a very good +test object: it is best seen by daylight; the most difficult parts of +which are longitudinal lines in the transparent part of the hair, which +require high powers. The hair of the bat and seal are also fine tests. +The lines on the scales of the diamond beetle, &c. are excellent opaque +proof objects. The feet of flies are likewise very interesting. + + * * * * * + + +_New Lilac Dyes._ + + +Dr. Macculloch has lately produced two fine lilac dyes from plants of +domestic growth, not hitherto applied to this purpose. One is from the +berry of the Portugal laurel, and the other the black currant. The +simplest process with alum is all that is required for either; and as +far as his trials go, the best tint is produced by the former fruit. + + * * * * * + + +_Dirty Windows._ + + +We have frequently remarked small radiant and arborescent +crystallizations on dirty windows in London, and have found them to +consist of _sulphate of ammonia_. This salt, or at least, sulphite of +ammonia (which becomes sulphate by exposure to air), is an abundant +product of the combustion of coal. + +_Brande's Journal._ + + * * * * * + + +_Indigo._ + + +This valuable plant, which gives rise to as great speculation in India, +as hops in England, is much injured by wet weather; although the +rapidity of the growth of plants during much rain, in the temperature of +the tropics, is extraordinary, yet a proportional deficiency in all that +characterizes the vegetable world necessarily follows. This we find to +be the case with all forced vegetables; and the mildness of the radish +of hastened growth, when contrasted with the highly pungent and almost +acrid flavour of the slowly and gradually advanced one, may be adduced +as explanatory of this observation. Hence, it is practically well known +to manufacturers, that the indigo plant, however fine and luxuriant, as +is the natural result of much rain, is very deficient _in produce_, and +a similar loss is experienced even if the plant, without the fall of too +much rain, has grown up under cloudy weather. Sunshine, much and +continued sunshine, is essentially necessary for the proper exercise of +those secretory organs by which this peculiar drug is formed and +perfected. + +Indigo leaves produce two dyes--blue and yellow; but the refuse leaves, +when boiled for an hour and a half, will render the water yellow, tinged +with green. This water, kept boiling for two hours, (supplying the loss +by evaporation), will, when filtered, afford a precipitate, which, when +dried, will in colour be a dun-slate, and in quantity perhaps about +equal to the blue extract such leaves have produced. This observation, +as it can lead to no practical advantage, is made for the man of +science, rather than the man of business.--_Mr. C. Weston_--_in Brande's +Journal._ + + * * * * * + + +_Chain Bridge._ + + +Mr. Disney has lately erected at his seat the Hyde, Ingatestone, Essex, +a suspension bridge of common chain, which is much cheaper than either +wood or brick. It is fifty feet long, and four feet wide. The whole cost +of material, and workmanship scarcely exceeded 30_l_. Upon a rough +estimate, a wooden bridge of the same span would have cost from 80_l_. +to 100_l_., and a high arch probably from 150_l_. to 200_l_. The piers +or posts supporting the chains are of oak, but should they in ten or +fifteen years decay, 10_l_. in money, and three days in time would set +it up again.--_Brande's Jour._ + + * * * * * + + +_Stone Roofs._ + + +The Romans employed _pumice_ in building their arched incombustible +roofs. This porous material possessed the additional advantage, when +combined with good cement, of rendering the arched surface one united +petrifaction, opposing (in consequence of its firm union) little lateral +pressure, comparatively, against the sustaining walls. + +Bonomi, the architect, suggests that the principal cause of the +destructiveness of fires in large buildings, is the want of arched +surfaces of incombustible materials. This has been disastrously +exemplified in the destruction of the choir of York Minster, where the +roof of the aisles, which are solidly arched with stone, suffered no +injury; while the choir-roof, although much more raised above the action +of the fire, has been entirely destroyed by it. + + * * * * * + + +_Fossil Saurians._ + + +Several beautiful specimens of fossil saurians, or animals of the lizard +tribe, have, as our scientific readers are aware, been found at Lyme, in +Dorsetshire; but the world would to this day have remained ignorant of +the treasures England possessed, but for the patient labours of three +female pioneers in this service, viz. _Mary Anning_, a dealer; _Miss +Congrieve_, and _Miss Philpots_, residents, who for years had been +collecting and preserving these bodies from the wreck of the coast; the +two last without any other view than the gratification of a laudable +curiosity, and who, with unequalled liberality, communicated their +collections to every man of science that visited the place; and it is to +liberal minds like theirs, and Miss Bennet's, of Wiltshire that we owe +the first rescuing of these natural gems from the spoilers. We copy this +from a communication of Mr. Cumberland to Brande's Journal, and are +truly pleased to record such amiable examples of female excellence in +scientific pursuits. At Dover, Portsmouth, and other places we could +name, we obtained the best information respecting the fossils of the +coast, from females resident there, and we need not add that this +circumstance imparted additional interest to our inquiries. + + * * * * * + + +_The Zoological Society._ + + +We copy the following from the Report to the Zoological Society, just +published: + +"In the Museum in Bruton-street various improvements have taken place. +Additional cases have been erected, wherever space could be obtained, +for the exhibition of the different collections; and two persons have +been in constant employment in preparing and setting up the more +interesting specimens. An assistant has also been lately added, for the +arrangement of the shells, insects, and the other smaller subjects of +the collection; and much care has been bestowed upon the various +departments of comparative anatomy. An instructive as well as an +attractive series in every branch of zoology, but more particularly in +the groups of mammalia, birds, and insects, has thus been arranged for +inspection. A catalogue of the more important objects in the Museum has +been published; and a more detailed list, accompanied with scientific +notices of all the species, is in preparation. + +"The increase in the number of subjects in the collection during the +last year has been considerable, and many of the additions have been of +the utmost importance to science. The whole of these, with a few +exceptions, have been presented by the friends of the society. A +detailed list of these donations which are too numerous for insertion in +this report, is laid upon the table; a reference to the contents of +which will evince that the spirit of liberality, which laid the +foundations of this already valuable collection, has not decreased. + +"A very extensive correspondence has been established with naturalists +of foreign countries, and persons resident in distant parts, who are +anxious to promote the objects of the Society. Through these channels +many valuable acquisitions have been already received; and it is +expected that much of novelty and interest will continually pour in to +increase the attractions of the Museum and Menagerie. + +"The Garden in the Regent's Park is the principal source of attraction +and of expense. The nature of the soil, which consists of a thick +ungrateful clay, increases the cost of every work. The health of the +animals requires that oak floors be raised above the surface of the +ground; and it is necessary to lay a thick substratum of dry material +under every inclosure and every walk. These disadvantages are however +amply counterbalanced by its immediate vicinity to the town. The Council +have, notwithstanding the nature of the soil, endeavoured to give to the +garden all the attractions which good cultivation and an abundance of +flowers can afford: and they have to return their thanks for the very +liberal supplies for this purpose which they have occasionally received +from the Horticultural Society. The resort to the garden has far +surpassed the most sanguine expectations of the Council; 112,226 persons +have visited it during the last year." + + * * * * * + + + +THE NOVELIST + + + * * * * * + + +THE SIEGE OF ABYDOS. + +_A Romantic Tale._ + +(_For the Mirror._) + + +The infidel Turks, ever at variance with the Christians, were, in the +reign of king Orchanes, extremely ambitious to possess the famous Castle +of Abydos; and accordingly vast preparations were made for a close +siege. Previous to the arrival of the Turkish army before the castle, +the angelic Sophronia, daughter of the governor of Abydos, was visited +by a dream. She thought, that while walking out on a beautiful evening, +breathing the fragrant air, and gazing on the brilliant stars, she fell +into a loathsome ditch, in which she remained an hour, terrified, and +unable to move. At length, a handsome youth passed, and she implored him +to rescue her. She did not implore in vain; the young man assisted her +out, cleaned her clothes, and comforted her with pleasant words. They +then proceeded to a delightful bower, put on costly attire, and the +youth regaled the rescued lady with delicious fruits, and sang sonnets +on her personal beauty. Sophronia awoke, sad and disappointed, to find +that her late bliss was only a dream. In a day or two afterwards, the +Turkish army appeared, and a vigorous siege commenced; nevertheless, the +Christians stoutly defended the place, and would, ultimately, have +obliged the enemy to retire, had no intervention taken place. It +happened, unfortunately for the garrison, that a gallant Turkish +captain, in the prime of youth, called Abdurachman approached so near to +the castle gates, as to be plainly observed by the fair Sophronia, from +a small turret window, out of which she had viewed the besiegers. The +lady imagined this captain to be the person to whom she was so much +obliged in her dream, and rejoiced at the supposed discovery; she hoped +that the assailants would be successful in taking her father's castle +that she might have an opportunity of falling into the hands of the +gallant captain she so greatly admired. The siege still raged with much +fury, but was continually repulsed by the brave Christians, insomuch +that the Turkish general became disconcerted, and in the evening of the +third day after the commencement of the siege, retired to his camp, +about a league distant from the scene of action. Sophronia, meanwhile, +was agitated at the ill success of the Turks, though she did not despair +of seeing the captain again. + +She made a confidante of her maid Annis, who undertook, daring as the +attempt was, to steal from the castle to the enemy's camp, in order to +convey a letter from her mistress to Abdurachman. The intrepid Annis +commenced her task in the night: she avoided passing the sentinels and +wardens of the castle, but found her way to a postern gate, scarcely +known to any but herself. She arrived at Abdurachman's tent; the captain +was conversing with his friends about what the general intended to do on +the morrow. Annis desired to speak with him in private, to which he +consented. She then delivered the letter, which was bound with a lock of +the fair writer's hair, and the astonished Abdurachman perused the +following:-- + +"Adored Youth, + +"I am passionately in love with you, and am sorry that you have been +frustrated in your endeavours to take the castle. As I adore you beyond +measure, and shall certainly take poison if you do not succeed; I engage +to deliver Abydos with all its riches into your hands, provided you +follow my instructions. I advise, that in the morning by sunrise, you +raise the siege and withdraw your whole army from the castle, and return +not again till you hear from _me_. My father will be so rejoiced at your +departure, that he will be off his guard, and then I can easily conduct +you with secrecy into the castle." + +The delighted Turk very politely answered this remarkable _billet doux_, +assuring the fair writer that he was at her service, and that he would +implicitly follow her directions as to the taking of Abydos. As soon as +he had dismissed Annis, he flew with Sophronia's letter to the general, +who, upon reading it, expressed great astonishment; he determined to +raise the siege the next morning, and resolved to rely fully on the +beautiful traitress for the future success of his enterprise. The next +day came, and the general raised the siege and departed. The Christians +were rejoiced to see it, and in the evening made merry and drunk wine. +The governor's daughter took advantage of the garrison at this unguarded +moment; and fearing to trust again to the sincerity of her maid, +resolved to proceed herself to Abdurachman's tent. Annis led the way. +The night was serene, and the light of the moon showed the stately +castle of Abydos, dark and majestic. No noise was heard, save the heavy +and uniform step of the sentinels, whose bright arms, as they caught the +moon's rays, sparkled against the gloomy looking building. Little did +the inmates, now as tranquil as the night, dream of being surprised by +an enemy; and little did the brave governor imagine that his own beloved +daughter, at this moment, was treacherously hastening to a merciless +foe, with the intent to conduct him to Abydos! Sophronia reached her +lover's tent weary and faint, for she had walked with great haste. She +sank into the captain's arms, and then, almost inaudibly, informed him +that not a moment was to be lost, and that he must follow her +immediately to the castle. + +He obeyed, and having formed a litter for the lady, she was borne on the +shoulders of four stout Turks. When they arrived at the postern gate, +Sophronia told the captain that he, with his men, must first enter the +castle, and then kill the sentinels and wardens, after which he would be +enabled to give admittance to all his friends. The Turks strictly obeyed +the lady, who before the affair began hastened with Annis to her +apartment in order to await the issue of her plot. The Turks entered the +castle by hundreds, killing all they met, and were soon masters of the +place. Meanwhile, Sophronia and Annis, both dreadfully agitated, heard +from their chamber the dying groans of the poor Christians. Sometimes +the clashing of swords was distinguished, as if a number of persons were +engaged in combat; sometimes the loud lamentations of women intervened; +and sometimes the voices of the conquerors were alone heard in +exultation. At length the door of Sophronia's room burst open, and +Abdurachman rushed in to seize her, while Annis, nearly dead with +terror, calmly submitted to the grasp of a common soldier who +accompanied the captain. + +The dreadful scene was acted and over; the Turks were possessors of the +famed castle of Abydos, and Sophronia's father, the governor, was +hanged. Alas! deluded Sophronia! The faithless Abdurachman, whom she +supposed to have seen in a dream, regarded her not; even lots were cast +for her, and she fell to the share of one whom she did not know. The +beautiful Sophronia took poison and expired. + +G.W.N. + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + + * * * * * + + +THE LIBERTINE'S CONFESSION. + +_In Imitation of the Writers of the Sixteenth Century._ + + + I'm sad and sore afraid, + That fickle, and forsworn, + I've sported life away, + And now am left forlorn. + + Poor fool! I dreamt the years + Of youth would never fly, + And pleasure's brimming bowl + Methought could ne'er run dry. + + That woman's bounteous love + Should e'er wax cold for me! + It seem'd that she must first + A woman cease to be. + + Her fondest smiles I thought + My rights by charter were; + Her sighs, her tears, forsooth,-- + Whilst I--was free as air. + + I've knelt at many a shrine, + Of wit and beauty too; + I've lisp'd light vows to all, + And sworn that all were true. + + My pastime was to gain + Their young and grateful love, + Then break the heart I won, + And straight to others rove. + + Ah! wild wit, now at last + Thy vagrancies are o'er; + The ear and gazing eye + That you enthrall'd before. + + No longer hear or see; + Whilst those you now would woo, + The time-worn truant slight, + Nor dream of love with you. + + _New Monthly Magazine._ + + * * * * * + +Dublin is a great city. Dublin, as the late Lord L----th used to say, is +"one of the tay-drinkenest, say-bathinest, car-drivinest places in the +world; it flogs for _divarsion._" + + * * * * * + + +THE TOYMAN IS ABROAD. + +(_Concluded from page 46._) + + +There is a point at which the inconvenience of superfluities so far +exceeds their utility, that luxury becomes converted into a perfect +bore. What, for instance, but an annoyance, would be the most splendid +feast, to a man whose stomach is already overladen with food? Human +ingenuity may effect much; and the Romans, by means of emetics, met this +emergency with considerable skill; but on a more enlarged experience of +general history, it must be conceded, that it is quite impossible to add +one more superfluous meal to those already established by general usage. +So also in matters of dress, ladies' hats must not be larger than the +actual doorways of the country will admit--not at least until time is +allowed for a corresponding increase in our architectural proportions. +With respect to personal ornaments also, ear-rings must not be so +weighty as to tear the lobes of the ears; nor should a bracelet prevent, +by its size, the motions of the arm. "Barbaric pomp and gold" is a fine +thing; but a medallion, as heavy and as cumbrous as a shield, appended +to a lady's bosom, would be any thing but a luxury. So, in the other +extreme, a watch should not be so small as to render the dial-plate +illegible; nor should a shoe be so tight as to lame its wearer for life. +Beauty, it has been said, should learn to suffer; and there are, I am +aware, resources in vanity, that will reconcile man, and woman too, to +martyrdom; but these resources should not be exhausted wantonly; and in +pleasure, as in economy, there is no benefit in lighting the candle at +both ends. The true philosopher extracts the greatest good out of every +thing; and fools only, as Horace has it, run into one vice in trying to +avoid another. Let not the reader, from these remarks, suppose that +their author is a morose censurer of the times; or that the least sneer +is intended against that idol of all orthodoxy "things as they are." As +a general proposition, nothing can be more true, than that whatever is +established, even in the world of fashion, is, for the time being, +wisest, discreetest, best; and, woe betide the man that flies too +directly in its face. + +There is, however, one point upon which I own myself a little sore; and +in which, I do think, superfluities are carried to a somewhat vicious +excess. The point to which I allude, and I beg the patience of the +reader, is the vast increase of superfluities, which of late years have +become primary necessaries in the appointment of a well-furnished house. +Here, indeed, is a revolution; a revolution more formidable than the +French and the American emancipation put together. We all remember the +time when one tea-table, two or three card-tables, a pier glass, a small +detachment of chairs, with two armed corporals to command them, on +either side the fire-place, with a square piece of carpet in the centre +of the floor, made a very decent display in the drawing, or (as it was +then preposterously called) the dining-room. As yet, rugs for the hearth +were not; and twice a day did Betty go upon her knees to scour the +marble and uncovered slab. In the bedrooms of those days, a narrow slip +of carpet round the bed was the maximum of woollen integument allowed +for protecting the feet of the midnight wanderer from his couch; and, in +the staircases of the fairest mansions, a like slip meandered down the +centre of the flight of steps. At that time, curtains rose and fell in a +line parallel to the horizon, after the simple plan of the green +siparium of our theatres; and, being strictly confined to the windows, +they never dreamed of displaying themselves in front of a door. No +golden serpents then twisted their voluminous folds across the entire +breadth of the room; nor did richly-carved cods' heads and shoulders, +under the denomination of dolphins, or glittering spread eagles, with a +brass ring in their mouths, support fenestral draperies, which rival the +display of a Waterloo-house calico-vender. Thus far, I admit, the change +is an improvement. Nay, I could away with ladders to go to bed withal, +though many a time and oft they have broken my shins. I would not either +object to sofas and ottomans, in any reasonable proportion; but protest +I must, and in the strongest terms too, against such a multiplication +and variety of easy chairs, as effectually exclude the possibility of +easy sitting; and against the overweening increase of spider-tables, +that interferes with rectilinear progression. An harp mounted on a +sounding-board, which is a stumbling-block to the feet of the +short-sighted, is, I concede, an absolute necessity; and a piano-forte, +like a coffin, should occupy the centre even of the smallest given +drawing-room--"the court awards it, and the law doth give it,"--but why +multiply footstools, till there is no taking a single step in safety? An +Indian cabinet also, or a buhl armoire, are, either, or both of them, +very fit and becoming; but it cannot be right to make a broker's shop of +your best apartment. An ink-stand, as large as a show twelfth-cake, is +just and lawful; ditto, an ornamental escrutoire; and a _necessaire_ for +the work-table is, if there be meaning in language, perfectly necessary. +These, with an adequate contingent of musical snuff-boxes, _or molu_ +clocks, China figures, alabaster vases and flower-pots, together with a +discreet superfluity of cut-paper nondescripts, albums, screens, toys, +prints, caricatures, duodecimo classics, new novels and souvenirs, to +cut a dash, and litter the tables, must be allowed to the taste and +refinement of the times. But surely some space should be left for +depositing a coffee-cup, or laying down a useful volume, when the hand +may require to be relieved from its weight, or when it is proper to take +a pinch of snuff, or agreeable to wipe one's forehead. Josses, beakers, +and Sevres' vases have unquestionably the _entree_ into a genteel +apartment; but they are not entitled to a monopoly of the _locale_; nor +are Roman antiquities, or statues even by Canova, justifiable in +usurping the elbow-room of living men and women. Most unfortunately for +myself, I have a very small house, and a wife of the most enlarged +taste; and the disproportion between these blessings is so great, that I +cannot move without the risk of a heavy pecuniary loss by breakage, and +a heavier personal affliction in perpetual imputations of awkwardness. +Then, again, it is no easy matter to put on a smiling and indifferent +countenance, whenever a friend, accustomed to some latitude of motion, +runs, as is often the case, his devastating chair against a high-priced +work of art, or overturns a table laden with an "infinite thing" in +costly _bijouterie_. I have long made it a rule to exclude from my +visiting-list, or at least not to let up stairs, ladies who pay their +morning calls with a retinue of children: but the thing is not always +possible; and one urchin with his whip will destroy more in half an +hour, than the worth of a month's average domestic expenditure. Oh! how +I hate the little fidgeting, fingering, dislocating imps! A bull in a +china-shop is innocuous to the most orderly and amenable of them. Why +did Providence make children? and why does not some wise Draconic law +banish them for ever to the nursery? + +The general merit of nick-nacks is unquestioned. Ornaments, I admit, are +ornamental; and works of art afford intellectual amusement of the +highest order. But then perfection is their only merit; and a crack or a +flaw destroys all the pleasure of a sensible beholder. Yet I have not a +statue that is not a torso, nor a Chelsea china shepherdess with her +full complement of fingers. I have not a vase with both its handles, a +snuff-box that performs its waltz correctly, nor a volume of prints that +is not dogs-eared, stained, and ink-spotted. These are serious evils; +but they are the least that flow from a neglect of the maxim which +stands at the head of my paper. Perpend it well, reader; and bear ever +in mind that, in our desires, as in our corporeal structure, it is not +given to man to add a cubit to his stature. I am very tired; so "dismiss +me--enough." _New Monthly Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + + +NOTES OF A READER. + + + * * * * * + + +THE QUARTERLY REVIEW. + + +No. 81, of this truly excellent work had not reached us in time for the +close reading which it demands, and our "Notes" from it at present are +consequently few. The first in the number is a powerful paper on Dr. +Southey's _Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society_--"a +beautiful book," says the reviewer, "full of wisdom and devotion--of +poetry and feeling; conceived altogether in the spirit of other times, +such as the wise men of our own day may scoff at, but such as Evelyn, or +Isaak Walton, or Herbert would have delighted to honour." The work is in +general too polemical and political for our pages; but we may hereafter +be tempted to carve out a few pastoral pictures of the delightful +country round Keswick, where Dr. Southey resides. The present Review +contains but few extracts to our purpose, and is rather a paper on the +spirit of the _Colloquies_, than analytical of their merits. We take, +for example, the following admirable passage on the progress of +religious indifference; in which we break off somewhat hastily, +premising that the reader will be induced to turn to the Review itself +for the remainder of the article:-- + +There was a time, since the worship of images, (and happy would it have +been if the religious habits of the country had thenceforth stood +fixed,) when appropriate texts adorned the walls of the dwelling-rooms, +and children received at night a father's blessing;--and "let us worship +God" was said with solemn air, by the head of the household; and +churches were resorted to daily; and "the parson in journey" gave notice +for prayers in the hall of the inn--"for prayers and provender," quoth +he, "hinder no man;" and the cheerful angler, as he sat under the +willow-tree, watching his quill, trolled out a Christian catch. "Here we +may sit and pray, before death stops our breath;" and the merchant (like +the excellent Sutton, of the Charter House) thought how he could make +his merchandize subservient to the good of his fellow-citizens and the +glory of his God, and accordingly endowed some charitable, and learned, +and religious foundation, worthy of the munificence of a crowned head; +and the grave historian (Lord Clarendon himself does so) chose a text in +his Bible as a motto for his chapter on politics; and religion, in +short, reached unto every place, and, like Elisha stretched on the dead +child, (to use one of Jeremy Taylor's characteristic illustrations), +gave life and animation to every part of the body politic. But years +rolled on; and the original impulse given at the Reformation, and +augmented at the Rebellion, to undervalue all outward forms, has +silently continued to prevail, till, with the form of godliness, (much +of it, up doubt, objectionable, but much of it wholesome), the power in +a considerable degree expired too. + +Accordingly, our churches are now closed in the week-days, for we are +too busy to repair to them; our politicians crying out, with Pharaoh, +"Ye are idle, ye are idle; therefore would ye go and do sacrifice to the +Lord." Our cathedrals, it is true, are still open; but where are the +worshippers? Instead of entering in, the citizen avails himself of the +excellent clock which is usually attached to them, sets his watch, and +hastens upon 'Change, where the congregation is numerous and punctual, +and where the theological speculations are apt to run in Shylock's vein +pretty exclusively. If a church will answer, then, indeed, a joint-stock +company springs up; and a church is raised with as much alacrity, and +upon the same principles, as a play-house. The day when the people +brought their gifts is gone by. The "_solid temples_," that heretofore +were built as if not to be dissolved till doomsday, have been succeeded +by thin emaciated structures, bloated out by coats of flatulent plaster, +and supported upon cast-metal pegs, which the courtesy of the times +calls pillars of the church. The painted windows, that admitted a dim +religious light, have given place to the cheap house-pane and dapper +green curtain. The front, with its florid reliefs and capacious crater, +has dwindled into a miserable basin. + + * * * * * + + +AN ARTIST'S FAME. + + + _Painter._ Let none call happy one whose art's deep source + They know not--or what thorny paths he trode + To reach its dazzling goal! + _Marquis._ What dost thou mean? + _Painter._ I'll seek a simile--Some gorgeous cloud + Oft towers in wondrous majesty before ye-- + It bathes its bosom in pure ether's flood, + Evening twines crowns of roses for its head, + And for its mantle weaves a fringe of gold; + Ye gaze on it admiring and enchanted-- + Yet know not whence its airy structure rose! + If it breathe incense from some holy altar, + Or earth-born vapours from the teeming soil, + When rain from Heav'n descends--if fiery breath + Of battle, or the darkly rolling smoke + Of conflagration, thus its giant towers + Pile on the sky--ye care not, but enjoy + Its form and glory,--Thus it is with art! + Whether 'twere born amid the sunny depths + Of a glad heart entranced in mutual love-- + Or, likelier far, alas! the sorrowing child + Of restless anguish, and baptized in tears-- + Or wrung from Genius even amid the throes + Of worse than death--Ye gaze and ye admire, + Nor pause to ask what it hath cost the heart + That gave it being! + + _Blackwood's Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + Romance is ever readier + To make unbidden sacrifice, than rear + The sober edifice of mutual bliss! Ibid. + + * * * * * + + +TRUE PATRIOTISM. + + +Promote religion--protect public morals--repress vice and +infidelity--keep the different classes of the community in strict +subordination to each other--and cherish the principles, feelings, and +habits, which give stability, beauty, and happiness to society. + +Descend from the clouds of political economy, and travel in safety on +your mother earth; cast away the blinding spectacles of the +philosophers, and use the eyes you have received from nature. Practise +the vulgar principles, that it is erroneous to ruin immense good +markets, to gain petty bad ones--that you cannot carry on losing +trade--that you cannot live without profit--and that you cannot eat +without income. And pule no more about individual economy, but eat, and +drink, and enjoy yourselves, like your fathers. What! in these days of +free trade, to tell the hypochondriacal Englishman that the foaming +tankard, the honest bottle of port, and the savoury sirloin, must be +prohibited articles! You surely wish us to hang and drown ourselves by +wholesale.--Ibid. + + * * * * * + + +THE FORGET-ME-NOT. + + +The following account of the origin of the name "Forget-me-not," is +extracted from Mill's _History of Chivalry_, and was communicated to +that work by Dr. A.T. Thomson:--"Two lovers were loitering on the margin +of a lake on a fine summer's evening, when the maiden espied some of the +flowers of Myosotis growing on the water, close to the bank of an +island, at some distance from the shore. She expressed a desire to +possess them, when the knight, in the true spirit of chivalry, plunged +into the water, and swimming to the spot, cropped the wished for plant, +but his strength was unable to fulfill the object of his achievement, +and feeling that he could not regain the shore, although very near it, +he threw the flowers upon the bank, and casting a last affectionate look +upon his lady-love, he cried 'Forget me not!' and was buried in the +waters."--_Gardener's Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + +HOME. + + + _Leonhard._ See here what spacious halls: how all around + Us breathes magnificence! + + _Spinarosa._ A princely pile! + But ah! how nobler far its daring site! + It rears its tow'rs amid these rocks and glaciers, + As if proud man were in his might resolved + To add _his_ rock to those that spurn the vale. + + _Leon._ All here is beautiful! but 'tis not home! + 'Tis true I was a child scarce eight years old + When led by Pietro into Italy-- + Yet are my home's green lineaments as fresh + As when first painted on my infant soul; + This castle bears them not.--My home lay hid + In the deep bosom of gigantic oaks, + That o'er its roof their guardian shadows flung. + Nor towers, nor gates, nor pinnacles, were there; + With lowly thatch and humble wicket graced, + Smiling, yet solitary, did it stand. + + _Blackwood's Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + +IRISH SONGS. + + +It is impossible to conceive any trash more despicable than the slang +songs which are current amongst the common people in Ireland; and this +is the more to be lamented, as the extreme susceptibility of the people +makes them liable to be easily moved to either good or evil by their +songs. Even the native Irish songs, as we are informed in Miss Brooke's +_Reliques of Irish Poetry_, are sadly interpolated with nonsensical +passages, which have been introduced to supply the place of lost or +forgotten lines; and of humorous lyrical poetry, she says there was none +in the language worth translating. Moore has given to the beautiful airs +of Ireland beautiful words; but Moore is a poet for ladies and +gentlemen, not for mankind. It may be, that there are not materials in +Ireland, for a kindred spirit to that of Burns to work upon; but the +fact is but too true, that the _poor_ Irishman has no song of even +decent ability, to cheer his hours of merriment, or soothe the period of +his sadness. Honour and undying praise be upon the memory of Burns, who +has left to us those songs which, like the breath of nature, from whose +fresh inspiration they were caught, are alike refreshing to the monarch +and the clown!--Ibid. + + * * * * * + + +A REAL MIRACLE. + + +The _fable_ of Dr. Southey's _Pilgrim of Compostella_, is as follows:-- + +A family set forth from Aquitaine to visit the shrine of St. James, at +Compostella, whither, according to the Catholic faith, the decapitated +body of that saint was conveyed from Palestine, (miraculously of +course,) in a ship of marble. At a certain small town by the way, their +son Pierre is tempted by the innkeeper's daughter. Like a second Joseph, +he resists the immodest damsel; like Potiphar's wife, she converts her +love to hate, and accuses the virtuous youth of a capital crime. Her +false oaths prevail, and he is condemned to the gallows. Rejoicing in +his martyred innocence, he exhorts his parents to pursue their +pilgrimage, and pray for the peace of his soul. Sorrowing, they proceed, +and returning, find their son hanging by the neck alive, and singing +psalms--in no actual pain--but naturally desirous to be freed from his +extraordinary state of suspended animation. They repair to the chief +magistrate of the town, by whose authority the youth was executed--find +his worship at dinner--relate the wonderful preservation of their +son--and request that he may be restored. The magistrate is incredulous, +and declares that he would sooner believe that the fowls on which he was +dining would rise again in full feather. The miracle is performed. The +cock and hen spring from the ocean of their own gravy, clacking and +crowing, with all appurtenances of spur, comb, and feather. Pierre, of +course, is liberated, and declared innocent. The cock and hen become +objects of veneration--live in a state of chastity--and are finally +translated--leaving just two eggs, from which arise another immaculate +cock and hen. The breed is perhaps still in existence, and time hath +been, that a lucrative trade was carried on in their feathers!!!--Ibid.. + + * * * * * + + + +THE GATHERER. + + + A snapper up of unconsidered trifles. + SHAKSPEARE. + + * * * * * + +Of Hogarth's first attempt at satire, the following story is related by +Nichols, who had it from one of Hogarth's fellow workmen. "One summer +Sunday, during his apprenticeship, he went with three companions to +Highgate, and the weather being warm and the way dusty, they went into a +public house, and called for ale. There happened to be other customers +in the house, who to free drinking added fierce talking, and a quarrel +ensued. One of them on receiving a blow with the bottom of a quart pot, +looked so ludicrously rueful, that Hogarth snatched out a pencil and +sketched him as he stood. It was very like and very laughable, and +contributed to the restoration of order and good humour." + + * * * * * + + +THE "GOOD BOY" LOVER. + + +"When I was a lad," said a facetious gentleman to the recorder of the +anecdote, "I was, or rather fancied myself to be, desperately in love +with a very charming young lady. Dining at her parents' house one day, I +was unfortunately helped to the gizzard of a chicken, attached to one of +the wings. Aware, like most '_good boys_' that it was extremely +ungenteel to leave anything upon my plate, and being over anxious to act +with etiquette and circumspection in this interesting circle, I, as a +'good boy' wished strictly to conform myself to the rules of good +breeding. But the _gizzard_ of a fowl! Alas! it was impossible! how +unfortunate! I _abhorred_ it! No, I could not either for _love_ or money +have swallowed such a thing! So, after blushing, playing with the +annoyance, and casting many a side-long glance to see if I was observed, +I contrived at length to roll it from my plate into my _mouchoir_, which +I had placed on my knees purposely for its reception; the next minute +all was safely lodged in my pocket. Conversing with the object of my +affections, during the evening, in a state of nervous forgetfulness, I +drew forth my handkerchief, and in a superb flourish, out flew the +GIZZARD! Good heavens! my fair one stared, coloured, laughed; I was +petrified; away flew my ecstatic dreams; and out of the house I flung +myself without one '_au revoir_,' but with a consciousness of the truth +of that delectable ballad which proclaims, that 'Love _has_ EYES!!' I +thought no more of love in that quarter, believe me!" M.L.B. + + * * * * * + + +ADMIRAL RODNEY. + + +During the heat of the memorable battles with Count de Grasse, of April +9th and 12th, 1782, the gallant Rodney desired his young aid-de-camp +(Mr. Charles Dashwood[9]) to make him a glass of lemonade, the +ingredients for which were at hand. Not having any thing to stir it with +but a knife, already discoloured by the cutting of the lemon, Sir George +coolly said, on Mr. Dashwood presenting it to him, "Child, that may do +for a midshipman, but not for an admiral--take it yourself, and send my +servant to me." C.C. + + [9] Afterwards advanced to the rank of post captain, in 1801. + + * * * * * + + +EXPRESSIVE WORDS. + + +I knew very well a French Chevalier, who on coming to England, applied +himself with amazing ardour to the study of our language, and his +remarks upon it, if not always very acute were at least entertaining. +One day, reading aloud an English work, he stopped at the word SPLASH; +expressed himself highly delighted with it, as a term, which minutely +described the thing meant; then repeating it many times with marked +pleasure, and a strong sibillation, he added, "No! no! dere is noting at +all, noting in _my_ language dat de same would be like _splash_!" +Perhaps the following sentence from the satire of a notorious wit in +Elizabeth's reign, is a fair specimen of those expressive words which +_paint_, the object of which they speak:--"To which place, Gabriel came, +_ruffling_ it out, hufty-tufty, in his new suit of velvet." The man was +vain; the writer has made him a _peacock_. M.L.B. + + * * * * * + +I would no more bring a new work out in summer than I would sell pork in +the dog-days.--_Bookseller in Cit. World._ + + * * * * * + +LIMBIRD'S EDITIONS. + +CHEAP and POPULAR WORKS published at the MIRROR OFFICE in the Strand, +near Somerset House. + +The ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS, Embellished with nearly 150 +Engravings. Price 6s. 6d. boards. + +The TALES of the GENII. Price 2s. + +The MICROCOSM: By the Right Hon. G. CANNING. &c. Price 2s. + +PLUTARCH'S LIVES, with Fifty Portraits, 2 vols. price 13s. boards. + +COWPER'S POEMS, with 12 Engravings, price 3s. 6d. boards. + +COOK'S VOYAGES, 2 vols. price 8s. boards. + +The CABINET of CURIOSITIES: or, WONDERS of the WORLD DISPLAYED. Price +5s. boards. + +BEAUTIES of SCOTT. 2 vols. price 7s. boards. + +The ARCANA of SCIENCE for 1828. Price 4s. 6d. + +*** Any of the above Works can be purchased in Parts. + +GOLDSMITH'S ESSAYS. Price 8d. +DR. FRANKLIN'S ESSAYS. Price 1s. 2d. +BACON'S ESSAYS Price 8d. +SALMAGUNDI. Price 1s. 8d. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, +and Instruction, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, NO. 382 *** + +***** This file should be named 11462.txt or 11462.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/4/6/11462/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Marvin A. Hodges, David King, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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